


Me la juego a morir

by Micte



Category: Sense8 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bodyguard, Alternate Universe - Human, Gen, slowburn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-01-15 06:24:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 51
Words: 45,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12315537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Micte/pseuds/Micte
Summary: Their job was to keep their clients safe, but they failed. Now she needs someone to protect her. Will her bodyguard be better at his job than her husband?





	1. Berlin - The call

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. English is not my first language but I try very hard so please tell me if you see something I should correct.  
> 2\. The only other language I know is Spanish but still I'm gonna try to add words in the main character's language. Feel free todo as I ask on the first point.  
> 3\. Actually we can just say that I'm pretty ignorant of a lot of things but I'm doing this for fun, dammit. Just overlook everything that doesn't make sense and get your shipping flags ready.

Wolfgang’s phone rang at five o’clock in the morning but he didn’t answer right away. He’d gone to sleep at three in the morning after a night of moderate partying with Felix, so he was still too tired to be conscious for the world. 

It rang three more times and the fourth time it actually woke him up. Still, he only decided to answer when a new ringtone indicated that someone needed him on his other cellphone. It was without a doubt a job and, judging by the hour he could barely see with his blurry vision, probably a fucking emergency. 

“Hello?” he growled in English, knowing pretty well who was at the other side of the line. He rolled on his bed while listening to an urgent voice explaining the situation and five minutes later he was picking his favourite black clothes from his black filled closet, getting ready to go out. 

He stopped by the dark living room, considering if he had enough time to make coffee to bring with him and then stopped by Felix’s door, wondering if it was a good idea to wake his brother up and let him know what was going on.

At the end he exited his apartment, leaving a note on the kitchen table and thinking about what kind of fancy coffee they would have at the executive suite of the Waldorf Astoria.


	2. The mission

When Wolfgang finally went through every filter the men in black had planted every three steps at the hotel, he was received by a mix of familiar and unfamiliar faces. Three of them were sitting by a coffee table in the middle of a super luxurious suite. Up until his arrival they had been talking in low voices but the conversation stopped as soon as he entered the room.

“Thank you for arriving with such short notice,” Amanita Caplan greeted him getting up from a white couch that she was sharing with a blonde woman. Both of them were dressed in simple but elegant black clothes and Wolfgang remembered something they said a long time ago about loving how easy it was to match Wolfgang’s aesthetic every time they worked together. Amanita pointed to an empty chair between the couches and Wolfgang took a seat.

“No problem,” he said, knowing his serious demeanor could easily hide the tiredness of his muscles. But then he noticed the table had bread, fruit, juice and coffee and he knew that he would be completely present in about ten minutes.

“Help yourself,” said a man sitting in front of his bosses. He tried to smile but it was obvious that it was the force of habit and not a genuine gesture since it didn’t reach his eyes. Also, there were big dark circles underneath them.

“Mr. Rasal, this is Agent B,” said Nomi Marks, the blonde woman who was holding Amanita’s hand. Wolfgang resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He hated his letter, “he is one of our best European agents. Agent B, this is Rajan Rasal, CEO of Rasal Industries in Mumbai”.

_Mumbai._

The word brought up a memory of Felix reading something on his phone earlier that day, but he had not payed attention. Mr. Rasal rose up to shake his hand and then Wolfgang tried to recall some of the things Amanita had told him on the phone, “So you are the one being threatened by…”

“It’s an international criminal group,” Mr. Rasal started to explain, sitting at the edge of the couch, “but I don’t know their name or their leader. They used to do business with my father back when he was running the company but now that he passed away… I tried to stop it,” he looked around at Nomi, Amanita and even at the security staff waiting by the doors and windows, as if he were trying to convince everyone in the room of his good intentions, “I told them we wouldn’t cooperate anymore…”

“Cooperate in what way?” Wolfgang asked, leaning forward. He was looking intently at the man and at the same time his hands were taking an empty cup to fill up with coffee.

“That’s not relevant for the moment,” Nomi interrupted whatever Mister Rasal was about to say.

“Did you see the news today?” Amanita asked him.

“I saw something about an explosion in Mumbai. Was that your building?” Wolfgang’s eyes went back to Mr. Rasal, who was now mixing the guilt in his face with dread, and it turned his brown skin pale.

“No, but it was close to where my wife’s family lives…” he said in a low voice and then he hid his face behind his hands.

“Mr. Rasal came to Berlin on vacation with his wife,” Nomi explained, giving the man a moment to calm down, “He has received a series of messages that make us believe their real target is Mrs. Rasal.”

“They want to use her to bend my hands,” Mr. Rasal said, rubbing his eyes intensely.

“Your assignment is to protect Mrs. Rasal until the situation is dealt with,” Amanita explained, handing Wolfgang a yellow envelope. He had done this kind of job enough times, so he didn’t need to verify its contents just yet.

“Who is taking care of him?” he asked, head leaning to Mr. Rasal who was now lost in his thoughts and didn’t pay much attention to them anymore.

“G and M are on their way. They just finished their last assignment,” Amanita said with a controlled but happy tone and Wolfgang hid a bitter smile behind his cup of coffee. Of course the American agents would be taking care of the CEO, undoubtedly working alongside a bunch of international agencies during the investigation. They would be chasing and shooting criminals while he hid the wife away.

Life wasn’t fair.

“Agents G and M will escort Mr. Rasal back to India, but Mrs. Rasal cannot go home until we are sure that it is safe... ” Nomi added and her comment took Mr. Rasal out of his mind.

“She’s going to be so pissed…” he murmured and Wolfgang managed to suppress a chuckle. It was clear that the man was deeply disturbed by the recent events but it was always funny to see married couples trying (and failing) to get along. It made Wolfgang feel lucky for staying single.

“Maybe, but this is safer for everyone and she has to understand that,” said Amanita giving him a sympathetic smile and the man tried to return it. Again, force of habit.

“I suppose we’ll be leaving today,” said Wolfgang reaching out for an apple and Mr. Rasal got up slowly from the couch.

“I’ll go get her…” he murmured, turning away and walking towards a closed door at the other side of the room.

“Thank you for coming B,” said Nomi reaching to her head to massage her temple, clearly tired but managing to keep it well hidden. How long was the flight from San Francisco to Berlin? 13 hours? maybe 15?

Wolfgang just nodded and then stood up, taking his cellphone out of the pocket of his jacket “I need to make a call…”

“Tell Felix we say hi,” Amanita whispered cheerfully as she leaned her head over her wife’s shoulder and then he left the room.


	3. The client

Out on the hallway Wolfgang had to dial Felix’s number three times. He was halfway through his apple before the man picked up to growl at the speaker as a way to say hello.

“Hey… I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to be out for a couple of days…” said Wolfgang looking at the Indian Men in Black perched by the door. He didn’t want to give away any information that could put his client in danger.

“Mmmoookay Mister Bond,” said Felix with a weird humored voice, “I’m gonna make a party in your absence.”

“Don’t have too much fun without me,” replied Wolfgang, smiling at how goofy his best friend sounded.  

“Don’t get shot,” Felix added and then a thud told Wolfgang that the man had just thrown his phone to the floor instead of ending the call like a normal person. _Rotzlöffel_.

Wolfgang went back into the living room just as Mr. Rasal was finishing a heated discussion with his wife in what he supposed was Hindi. He only spoke German and English, but he didn’t have to be a language expert to know that she was winning.

Wolfgang took a moment to take in every detail of his new client. He wasn’t intending to do an analysis of her complete appearance right there but it was quite easy to get distracted by her facial features. He appreciated especially the angry sparkle of her big brown eyes but he could only see it for a moment because she turned around, trying to avoid his gaze.

“Mrs. Rasal this is Agent -”

“ _Nah_ _i_! I don’t care who he is. I’m going back to Mumbai.” Mrs. Rasal said starting with a shout and finishing with a furious whisper that made her husband wince while Wolfgang’s eyebrows went up in surprise.

“You can do that Ms. Rasal…” Nomi started but then the angry woman lifted her hand to stop her.

“Kala. My name is Kala.” she said, ignoring her husband’s clearly hurt feelings at the implications of her words. The man even took a step behind and covered his mouth with one hand. Right to the yugular.

“Kala,” Nomi continued, taking a step forward her new client, “If you go back you will only put your family and everyone you care about in danger.”

Every word was said slowly and Nomi managed to sound ominous. Wolfgang thought it was a little bit too much but since it was a matter of life and death…  

“But if you go somewhere else they won’t be able to hurt you and use you against your husband,” Amanita added in a much calmer tone. It was their version of good cop and bad cop and Wolfgang had seen it work before with way more complicated clients, so he just took another bite of his apple, watching as Mrs. Rasal’s fine features showed the mental process she was going through.

The burrow in her brow deepened but her mouth relaxed and she turned around for a moment, making her messy and wavy black hair move along. Wolfgang got distracted by the sudden need to touch it, but came back to his senses when the woman spoke again.

“I don’t want to run away,” she said faintly and Amanita got closer to her.

“No one is running away,” she said, putting her hand over Kala’s shoulder “There are international agencies already working on the case and we have the very best taking care of you.”

“What about my family?” Kala asked and Wolfgang knew they had made it.

“The ones looking after them are pretty good too,” Wolfgang added bluntly. He knew it wasn’t appropriate to make jokes right then and there but he couldn’t help to try to lift up some of the heaviness of the conversation.

This forced Mrs. Rasal to actually acknowledge him for the first time and he held up her gaze. This time it was harder to determine what was going on in her mind, but she finally turned to her husband and said:

“I’ll go, but this isn’t over,” and with that, she went back to her room.

They stood there for a few more seconds, giving Mr. Rasal time to recover and just as he turned to make his way to the minibar, someone walked through the door of the suite.

“Hello,” said another Indian man wearing a suit, but this one was way more expensive and stopped his steps in the middle of the living room, looking around and taking on the general mood. His worried eyes finally found Mr. Rasal, “What happened?”

“Did you talk to anyone?” he asked instead. It was not a surprise that he wasn’t on the mood of explaining that last argument.

“I have news from Mumbai… er… who are you?” the man was now talking to Wolfgang but he didn’t say a thing. Instead he took his time to study the newcomer while Amanita answered for him.

“This is Mrs. Rasal’s new bodyguard. He will take her to a safe location in a few hours.”

“Take her? Where?” the man looked at Wolfgang and then at Rajan, but it was Amanita who kept answering the questions.

“That’s classified information,” she said and then looked at her wife.

“Come with me,” Nomi said suddenly, taking Wolfgang by the arm and dragging him to the door, “Let’s get your car ready.”

Once they were out of the suite and at a good distance from all the security guards, Wolfgang leaned to her and asked, “Who was that?”

“Ajay Kapoor, one of Mr. Rasal’s associates,” she said simply, not letting anything in her tone reveal whatever she was thinking about the man but Wolfgang knew his bosses pretty well and by the end of the day they would have all the information regarding Ajay Kapoor.

“Where do you want me to take Mrs. Rasal?” he asked, just to see if they had this bit of the operation planned out as well.

 “Oh, wherever you want,” Nomi said, waving her hand in a dismissive manner, “the less we know, the better. Just keep your cellphone charged and the client alive, okay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your messages and kudos :)


	4. The apology

One hour and thirty-five minutes later, Wolfgang was taking Mrs. Rasal to the nearest airport. He had wondered for a while between taking her to another country or simply hiding her on the countryside of Germany, but after seeing how altered she was by the whole situation, he decided that a change of scenery might be good for his client. 

A client that, by the way, didn’t say a word during the ride to the airport and only asked two questions after Wolfgang had purchased their plane tickets.

“Where are we going?” her voice was still sounding slightly aggressive, but Wolfgang didn’t take it personally. He simply handed her one of the tickets and waited for a reaction, “Why there?”

“To hide you in plain sight,” he said simply and then gestured her to walk in front of him and she went silent again.

Wolfgang actually didn’t mind it because chatty clients made it difficult for him to pay attention to the surroundings. Pre-disaster clients liked to ask questions about his job as if he was some kind of James Bond instead of a glorified security agent. On the other hand, clients post-disaster only wanted Wolfgang to take them home in one piece and, normally, they lost their capacity to make conversation. Wolfgang was happy with that because in his experience that was the moment that involved more bullets.

But there weren’t any bullets yet. They got to the plane without any problem and after a few minutes of waiting for everyone to sit, Wolfgang could feel his new client staring at him.

“Excuse me, Mister…”

“Wolfgang,” he said without hesitation. It was against the rules but he didn’t want to be called Mister B if they were going to be mostly alone and away from people, “just Wolfgang,” he kept staring at the rest of the passengers while Mrs. Rasal took her time to choose her next words.

“Is that... like a codename?” she whispered.

That made him turn, his eyebrow rising slowly: it was a serious question and her confused expression made him smile, “No. That’s my real name.”

“Oh, I’m sorry… Wolfgang,” she looked around to the back of the front row seat and then to the window, moving her hair with a nervous hand and trying in vain to cover the redness of her cheeks, “I was… really rude back at the hotel and I want to apologize for it.”

She made an effort to look him in the eye and Wolfgang felt something weird in his chest, but he managed not to make it obvious when he replied, “It’s okay, you must be under a lot of stress.”

He went back to the analysis of every passenger on his visual field, but Mrs. Rasal kept on going, “I just don’t understand…” she said and he waited for her to continue, “Why putting a bomb on that building? It’s not even from the company…”

He took his time and when he talked he decided not to avoid her gaze, “You came to Berlin on vacation with your husband, right? They must have thought their message would be more effective if it was delivered when your guard was down. They wanted to ruin your happiness to make a point.”

Normally he never gave his honest insight on the cases to his clients. He played it as if everything was cool until some shit happened, but he had witnessed how deeply affected this woman was by the tragedy in her homeland and he felt that anything less than his true thoughts on the matter would be disrespectful to her.

“Fifteen people died…” she murmured after a while and Wolfgang just had to look at her, “and I wasn’t even that happy to begin with.”

That urge to reach out and touch her invaded him one more time but now it was harder to resist because she was right there by his side. Her hands were resting over her lap, and a lock of her long black hair fell over his shoulder. He could even feel the warmth of her body, but he didn’t move.

What was happening to him?

“The flight will be short,” he managed to say once he got to focus again, “try to get some rest while you can.”


	5. London - The safehouse

Kala opened her eyes in a unknown dark room, and felt scared, but it lasted only for a few seconds. She laid in bed while her mind replayed yesterday’s events with a methodical calm that she usually applied to her work, but there must have been something in a subconscious level trying to keep her calm. 

There was the fight with Rajan. Then Berlin. Then the explosion in Mumbai. The threats. The MC Agency representatives. The bodyguard. The plane.

Her hand searched around her until she stumbled with her phone. It identified that she was in London and that it was 5pm, but there wasn’t any signal.

She knew she wasn’t supposed to call anyone while she was abroad, but she would ask her bodyguard about it later anyway. Surely he had a way to get updates about what was going on back home.

Slowly, Kala sat on the bed to cross her legs over the mattress. She put her hands together and started to pray. For the next ten minutes she asked for guidance and forgiveness. She prayed for the dead and their families. For her family. She even prayed for Rajan and his enemies.

Things were bad right now but knowing that Ganesha was looking after her made her feel better. It gave her the strength to get out of bed and walk in the dark until she found the bedroom door.

She entered a small living room which had a narrow table with a tiny T.V. screen and a yellow envelope on the corner. There was another door and the logical assumption was that it would lead to the kitchen. On the right side she saw a squared table with four chairs and to her left there were two individual couches by another door. If she remembered right, that was the entrance. Her bodyguard was sitting in one of the couches. The room was well illuminated by the daylight coming through the window but he was sleeping. Kala noticed the shine of the metal of a gun lying on his lap and she felt dizzy.

How did it get to this?

She focused on his features instead, trying to suppress a panic attack, but his peaceful face made it all feel off.

She hadn’t pay much attention to her bodyguard the day before. Wolfgang. He had fair skin and short blond hair, so he was as european as he could be. He was all dressed in black but that gave him a mysterious air, instead of the menacing presence she had felt around Rajan’s security guards.

She stared at him for a while, feeling happy that he was asleep and then decided to do something less creepy by moving towards the window.

“Don’t get close to any window,” a raspy voice made her turn around and Wolfgang’s blue eyes shone against the daylight.

“You are awake…” she stated the obvious feeling embarrassed. Had he notice how long she had stared at him?

“I’ve been taking short naps,” he explained, moving his head to one shoulder, then the other, “But you were out for six hours…”

“I just wanted to see where we are,” she pointed behind her but she took a step away from the window.

“We are in Candem,” he explained, getting up.He stretched his arms above his head and noticed that Kala was thinking hard about something, “Have you ever been to London?”

Kala shook her head, “This is the first time.”

And it was in awful circumstances. He didn’t have to say it outloud though, they both knew it, so he changed the subject while entering the bedroom.

“Are you hungry?” he asked as he turned the lights on and searched the closet.

“Not much... but I know I should eat something…” Kala said from the living room, trying to remember when was the last time she ate something. The airplane? Berlin?

“Then I’ll go to the store,” Wolfgang said, putting his jacket on and then securing the gun in the back of his pants. Kala tried to ignore it, “I didn’t want to leave you alone while you slept…”

“Can I come too?” she interrupted him but stood in place trying not to seem overeager, “Is it okay?” Wolfgang observed her in silence for a while. She knew he was considering all the possible variables and she told herself that it was okay if he said no but… “I just need some air,” she added, “I don’t want to be left alone… thinking...”

Something relaxed in Wolfgang’s expression and then he spoke, “If i say hide, you hide. If I say run…”

“I run,” Kala nodded.

“No matter what,” he added and then his eyes scanned her from head to toe and she crossed her arms, feeling a little embarrassed. She was still wearing the pink top, jeans and flats she had chosen for their flight.

“Do you have a hat or a baseball cap?” he asked and she shook her head, going through the mental list of everything she had packed back in Mumbai.

“I have a coat but…”

“Is it fancy?” his eyes narrowed.

“A little,” she admitted, biting her lip. That made her think about all the changes she had gone through in the last two years. Her wardrobe was hardly the most relevant of them, but she knew that Mrs. Rasal had a different appearance than that of Miss Dandekar. She didn’t have a lot of time to start picking on herself though because Wolfgang made another quick raid of the closet in the bedroom and handed her a big black sweater as he came out.

“Here. Wear the hoodie.”


	6. The cover

Kala followed Wolfgang out to the hallway of their building wearing the black hoodie he had lent her. The inside was softer than the outside and it smelled fresh, like rain. She watched Wolfgang taking a toothpick out of his pocket and placing it between the door and the frame before closing it. It took her a second to figure out what it was for and once she did she couldn’t help but smile at the simplicity of the trick. 

As she followed Wolfgang down the stairs she noticed that she could breath easier. The pressure on her chest had lifted a little and when they finally reached the street the fresh air made her feel as if she had just woken from a long, asphyxiating nightmare. It was simply wonderful.

Wolfgang looked around for a moment and then he offered his arm to her. The gesture took her back to a moment in the airport that morning.

“You told the airport agent that we were together…” she said, remembering just now how stunned she had been seven hours before. Slowly, she took his arm and he started to guide her down the street.

“It’s an easy cover,” he explained and then pressed his lips before continuing, “but I won’t use it again if it bothers you…”

“You are the professional here,” she said, feeling strangely cheery, “You know what you are doing.”

That made him laugh a little and she couldn’t help the smile forming on her lips. Maybe the mood swings were normal because she was still in shock? She didn’t know much about psychology (she would have to do some research on the subject later) but her spirit had been so low in the last 24 hours that maybe now her body was trying to compensate a little bit with a rush of dopamine.

Whatever it was, she enjoyed it for the long of the walk to the store. She admired the buildings and the extravagant people walking in and out of pubs. It was just like the things she saw in movies.

The vacation Rajan had prepared in Berlin included museums, monuments and fancy restaurants and every move was made by limousine, so this was the first time she got to walk in an ordinary street of Europe surrounded by it’s people. She remembered also Rajan’s hand holding onto hers with all his might, but it had not felt as solid as Wolfgang’s arm under her hands.

“There are so many people.”

“There is a big market a few blocks away,” Wolfgang explained, “so the place is always swarmed with tourists.”

Kala nodded.

_ And we can hide in plain sight. _

When they finally entered the tiny store Wolfgang told her to take anything she wanted and the mere sight of food made her stomach growl. She moved around filling her arms with bread and chips and drinks, always feeling Wolfgang’s stare at the back of her head. In any normal situation she would have hated to be observed all the time, but right now it was comforting.

On the way back he carried the bags with one hand so she could hold onto his arm again. The trip lasted around fifteen minutes because he took her through some narrow streets, a mild reminder of her real situation. She just followed without questioning him and then her short lived happiness disappeared completely as soon as she saw him verify the toothpick. It was still in place, so they entered the apartment quickly and set their mostly unhealthy groceries in the little kitchen.

The sun was starting to set when they sat on the tiny table with pre-made sandwiches and bottles of water. They ate in silence for a while and Kala admired the piece of orange sky available from her seat; it was the furthest one from the window.

“If I wanted to call my family…” she said suddenly, after thinking of her useless phone.

“You can’t,” Wolfgang picked up the plastic containers and took them to the kitchen “Discretion is key in your situation.”

“So I will just stay in this apartment until the culprits are arrested...” she said watching him sit down again in front of her. The man just lifted his shoulders.

“Pretty much,” he took a drink of water and then leaned towards her, after seeing the frustration tensing up her lips, “Hey, boring is good,” he said, but something in his expression made her think he didn’t believe that at all. He was just trying to be nice.

“How long do you think this could last?”

“Could be a few days… or a couple of weeks…”

His answer felt sincere so she nodded in acceptance, “Do you do this often?”

Wolfgang laid back on his chair and his silence was familiar. He was measuring her; determining how much she should know. She understood that; she was just a client after all.

“Sometimes,” he said finally.

“How long have you been working for the MCA?”

“Isn’t it a little late for a job interview?” he teased her but she didn’t stop.

“Have you ever lost a client?”

“Not when they listen to me,” he replied without losing a beat, rising his eyebrows and Kala bit her lower lip.

“Sorry for the interrogation,” she let her eyes drop to her hands. She was holding tight to her plastic bottle and then she saw one of Wolfgang’s hand covering hers.

“Hey…” she looked up to him again. His blue eyes were intense and his touch was warm, “You can ask whatever you want, Mrs. Rasal.”

She had lost herself looking into his eyes but then she felt empty inside when he used Rajan’s last name.

“I need to make a few calls. I’ll be right on the hallway.”

He left the room in a rush, taking all the warmth with him. She snuggled against the collar of the black hoodie, smelling the rain while the darkness filled all the space around her.


	7. The question

Kala woke up early the next day. She stood still in the darkness trying to identify the new sounds around her: there was water falling and a low melodic humming. She turned to her side, looking at the fine line of light coming from under the bathroom door and heard Wolfgang singing softly to himself. 

The song felt familiar but she couldn’t name it right away and it was slightly frustrating. She didn’t like not knowing things. Then it occurred to her that if her bodyguard was having a nice shower and humming around, it meant that things back home were still the same, if not better. But definitely, not worse.

It was a comforting thought in a way, but that didn’t mean she could go back. She still had to hide there and it was only the third day of laying low.

She decided to stand up and get a cup of tea, as a way to avoid a stream of tears she could already feel coming and she left as quietly as possible, not wanting to ruin Wolfgang’s relaxing moment.

It was true that they didn’t had a lot of things to do, but he was constantly checking on the windows, the hallway and even making rounds around the building, just in case. She had noticed that he was patient, methodical and attentive and that kind of work must be tiring in it’s way.

She had confirmation of his dedication as soon as she crossed the bedroom door and looked at what was laying over the table. There was an empty cup of coffee and a full ashtray along with documents and pictures of her and Rajan. She recognized them immediately: they were the ones used to threaten them. There were images that dated from their very first date and Kala felt nostalgic about how easy everything was back then. She touched the face of a version of her that thought that Rajan wasn’t half as bad and a tear finally escaped her eyelashes.

“Hey…”

She turned around and found Wolfgang leaning against the frame of the door. He wore jeans and a simple black shirt. His blue eyes were shining and suddenly she felt short of breath. Her physical reaction was to avert her gaze, making it look like it was because of the tears and not because her eyes had lingered too much on his lips.

_ I’ve been confined for too long. _

“Are you okay?” he asked walking towards her; he was barefoot.

“I’m fine,” Kala said and then pointed at the pictures, “It’s just… old memories…”

Wolfgang nodded and then he took one of the pictures “Can I ask you something?”

“Yes.”

“What happened to your wedding ring?”  

Kala got closer to him to look at the picture in his hands. It was from their honeymoon in Positano. Those monsters had followed them all the way to Italy; it made her feel sick. In the image there was a reflection caused by the way the sunlight touched the diamond. But that was back then. Now, she didn’t wear her wedding band.

“Rajan and I… we are not exactly on a good place,” she turned to him and noticed that they were too close. Something inside her told her the proximity was dangerous, so she went to sit down.

“Because of this company thing?”

“It’s one of the reasons,” she said. She had been honest up until now, but that didn’t mean she had to tell him everything right away. There were complicated things that she didn’t want to explain to anyone, much less him. He had already lots of things to think about.

“I read the agency’s report and your husband’s statement,” Wolfgang took a seat by her side and he cleared his throat before continuing, “They were dealing with expired drugs…”

“Rajan’s father would sell them to that… organization or whatever and... they would take them to cities in need...” this she could explain. He needed to know what this mess was all about.

“You work there too, right?” it was a just a question. There was no animosity or judgement in his voice, so she nodded.

“I didn’t know…” she felt her throat closing. There were too many negative feelings swirling inside her: anger, shame and guilt.

“Are you going to leave him?” Wolfgang asked and listening to that out loud brought Kala back to the present. She had vented to some friends and family and nobody had dared to ask out loud what she wondered about every day since she found out Rajan’s secret.

She looked into Wolfgang’s blue eyes. If she thought about it, it was a simple question but he was the first to suggest such option, so she answered honestly.

“I don’t know,” a couple of tears fell down her cheeks and she quietly wiped them off.

Wolfgang nodded, his eyes roaming over the pictures. His mouth turned into a thin line, “You should.”

He left her alone then and she could hear him moving around the apartment. She put the documents and pictures back into the yellow envelope and managed to be calm before Wolfgang touched her arm to gently turn her around.

“I was thinking to go to a library and get some books to pass the time,” he said, pointing at the door, “unless you want to watch T.V.?”

That was a question she was happy to answer, “I’ll get the hoodie,” said Kala, producing a tiny smile that Wolfgang returned easily.


	8. The books

The books had been a good idea for a few hours. Kala bought three and Wolfgang took a magazine about movies. There was an old picture of Schwarzenegger on the cover and he thought that Felix would be happy to read it. Besides, he needed to improve his English.

They went back to the apartment and Wolfgang noticed how Kala’s good mood diminished as soon as she crossed the door. It was as if the exterior revitalized her and then his safe house sucked the little happiness she managed to gain outside.

She went to read immediately, picking up a book about psychology first. He thought it was a curious choice (she had also picked a romance novel and a mystery one), but he discovered later that it was kinda entertaining to watch the concentration on her face as she went through the pages. After half an hour he knew exactly what expression she would make when she didn’t understand a concept and could also identify that particular shine of her eyes when everything clicked in her mind.

He observed her from his chair by the table, flipping lazily through the magazine over and over again, just to have an excuse to be there. Of course, it was not like he needed one because his job was to look after her and make sure she kept on breathing long enough to be returned to her husband.

He sighed in frustration at the thought of Rajan Rasal. Wolfgang tried not to judge people because he was also another human being who had made a lot of mistakes in the past, but he couldn’t help to wonder what the fuck was Kala doing with a guy like that. Wolfgang only needed to think about the first time he saw her. It was as if she had this fire inside of her and Rajan was too scared of it. And then he went and was enough of an idiot to put her life in danger.

_ At least you got to know her, _ he told himself and he knew it was an awful thing to think about but he had already caught himself wondering about their lives and finding only one realistic answer: if it weren’t for her husband’s dirty business, he would have never met her.

“I’m going to lay down,” Kala’s voice caught his attention. She was already at the bedroom door with the book in her hand when Wolfgang looked up.

He just nodded and watched her disappear behind the closed door.

_ Get used to that _ , said a bitter voice in his head. He knew it but it seemed that he needed to be reminded that her company was temporary and his presence in her life was a necessary evil and nothing more.


	9. Adrift

A pattern was established and Wolfgang didn’t like it. Kala would get up to take a shower, ate a little and then she went back to bed either to keep on reading or to sleep. Then repeat, over and over.

She had also stopped asking questions, even about her family.

Wolfgang knew that it was the result of everything combined: she was obviously still blaming herself for the attack in Mumbai, which was ridiculous if you thought about it logically but he had too felt responsible in the past for things that were out of his control, so he understood it. Then there was the shitstorm with her husband, being cut from her family and the grim safehouse.

Some people just weren’t meant to spend their time locked up and after thinking really hard about what to do, he had finally found a solution:

He would fix the one thing under his control.


	10. The invitation

Kala had been trying to read the same paragraph for the last ten minutes. When she finally gave up, she closed her eyes and snuggled under the covers. It was almost nine or at least she thought so. She was wearing the hoodie Wolfgang gave her. The smell of rain had already faded but it was the only thing right now that made her feel good. That and Wolfgang’s presence, but something inside her had convinced her to stay inside that room, away from him.

It was something dark and tiny in her chest that wanted her to feel bad. She thought about home and felt that she didn’t deserve solace. Not until everyone else were safe.

“Mrs. Rasal, wake up,” Wolfgang said, barging into the room without knocking. He turned on the lights and went straight to the closet, “We leave in fifteen minutes.”

“What?”

“Change into something warmer. It’s cold outside,” he continued to move things around without looking at her.

Slowly, Kala sat on the bed and asked gingerly, “Did something happen?”

“Nothing yet, but I want to show you something,” he said turning around and he threw her a shiny black and hairy thing that she could barely catch in her groggy state. His eager blue eyes searched hers, “This is your first time in London. Don’t you want to see it?”

Kala looked at her hands and then back at Wolfgang. His proposition was so random it helped wake her up completely. She had a moment of hesitation because if she didn’t deserve comfort it was clear that she shouldn’t have fun either.

That would be so selfish...

But Wolfgang was waiting for an answer right in front of her. He lifted his eyebrows, gesturing to the door and she bit her lip. Her mind was full with doubt but she felt her heart beating faster anyway… so she smiled at him and ten minutes later they were descending the stairs together.


	11. The tour

Wolfgang looked almost the same that he did everyday. He wore clean black clothes as always, so his style hardly changed. Kala, on the other hand, was wearing her fancy yellow coat and a black wig with short straight hair that made her feel like she was finally taking on the leading role of the boring action movie that her life had become. 

_ Boring is good _ , she remembered Wolfgang’s words and she knew he was right, but some part of her was hoping that the night wasn’t that boring after all. That part was winning over her the further they got from the apartment and now the only thing she wanted was to forget all of her problems, at least for one night.

“Wow, you are beautiful,” a black man leaning on a gray car said to her as soon as they reached the street and Kala took a step back on instinct, but she bumped into Wolfgang’s chest and he gently pushed her forward.

“This is Agent O. He will be our driver,” he explained.

“And tour guide,” Agent O added with a big smile, “No one knows this city better than me. Or any city, actually,” he winked at her.  

“Oh,” Kala was surprised. She had thought that… but then she realized it had been naive of her… of course they wouldn’t go out alone, it was dangerous.“That’s really kind of you,” she held out her hand and Agent O shook it, “I’m Kala.”

“Nice to meet you Miss Kala.”

She smiled. At least their new companion seemed nice.

Wolfgang opened the door of the backseat and climbed behind her. She was used to having people drive her around, so she couldn’t understand why she got nervous all of the sudden.

Or well, deep down, she had an idea, but she was trying really hard to ignore it.

Agent O took the driver’s seat and then found her eyes with the rear view mirror, “So, where do we go first?”

Kala didn’t have an answer for that but Wolfgang mentioned a few ideas and they started the tour. They didn’t actually stop at any place to walk around. Agent O drove through the city, going slower here and there to allow her to admire the buildings and monuments illuminated by the streetlights. Sometimes the window would reflect her face and she smiled at how weird her head looked on that wig. Sometimes she could see glimpses of Wolfgang, who was observing her meticulously. His arm was laying behind her on the car seat. If he let it fall it would land over her shoulders…

So she tried to make a lot of questions to distract herself from his presence. At first she found Wolfgang very hard to ignore because of his intense gaze, but Agent O was full of historical information and pop culture references: nobleman death over there, movie scene shot over here... It was interesting and entertaining enough to keep her heart beating at a normal speed.

She also made an effort to remember the names of the places. Soho, Mayfair… they passed the Buckingham Palace, and she knew already how the Big Ben looked, but it was very different to be in front of all those views. The London Eye interested her so much that she gave up and turned to Wolfgang with pleading eyes.

“Maybe later,” he said, finally looking away. He was playing hard to get.

“I’ll give you my number in case you want to ditch B and go on another tour…” said Agent O over his shoulder.

Kala looked at Agent O, puzzled, “B?”

“Agent B,” he said and she could see the reflection of his narrowing eyes on the rear view mirror.

She was about to move again to question Wolfgang when she felt his lips brushing against her ear, “Don’t call me by my name tonight,” he whispered, sending shivers down her spine.

Kala managed to pretend that she wasn’t affected by his proximity, “Okay, Agent B.”

“Hey, Kala,” Agent O called and she leaned to the front, getting away from Wolfgang’s warmth, “Have you seen the Thames yet?”


	12. The Bridge Tower

Agent O dropped them off on St. Katherine’s Way and Wolfgang offered Kala his arm. She accepted it, trying not to look too reluctant and then followed him to the Bridge Tower. 

It was a busy night. There were lots of cars and they walked in silence through groups of tourists and real couples holding hands until they reached the middle of the bridge. Kala leaned over the cold railing and admired the beautiful city lights. The way they were reflected on the water was simply magical and she wished the circumstances of her trip were different.

“I wanted to tell you,” Wolfgang started in a low voice, leaning his elbow on the railing to face her “Welcome to London.”

“I’ll come back someday. I’ll visit every museum…” she said with a newfound confidence that made him smile and she remembered that she had something else to say too. After all, she was sure tourism wasn’t anywhere on his job description, “Thanks for calling Agent O. I feel much better now.”

“Good,” he said nodding but then his brow furrowed, “but this is like a one time thing. We cannot take risks like this all the time.”

“I know,” her stomach dropped at the prospect of going back to the apartment, but she shook her head and tapped into her curiosity to avoid sadness, “Does he carry a gun too?”

“O? No. He doesn’t like them,” he grimaced as he explained, “He prefers knives. Something he picked up in Korea.”

She laughed at the thought of Wolfgang and his fellow agents taking  _ How To Kill A Man With Knives _ classes at some dojo in Korea. Was it even called  _ dojo _ over there? And what other places had they visited?

“Hey B!” a voice called from afar. Wolfgang turned around, his hand ready at the hem of his pants while the other pushed Kala behind him when he saw that it was Agent O running to them. Kala was scared for a fraction of a second but then she noticed the biggest smile on his face. She didn’t need to spend a lot of time with him to know that he was always happy by default, but this time it was special.

“You won’t believe who’s playing at the Ministry tonight!”

It was a strange phrase to hear but it seemed to make sense to Wolfgang. If Agent O was always showing his happy side, Wolfgang was mostly hiding all of his sides. Kala was getting used to the intensity of his stare and she had managed to make him laugh a couple of times, but the smile forming on his lips after listening to his colleague had a mischievous air that thrilled her and made her want to discover what could possibly cause it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this fic just got over a thousand hits and I want to use this little chapter to thank all the people that have been reading, leaving kudos and bookmarking my baby. I was nervous with this story that I've been writing for a few months now, so every little piece of encouragement means a lot to me. 
> 
> DarkForest10, Cris_Sense8IsBack, Lik, Litoka, Tonkssss, Batu, Carlaelamas, greenmountaingirl and Flor! 
> 
> Muchas gracias :D
> 
> Oh and Happy Holidays !!!!


	13. The Ministry

A few minutes later Kala discovered that the Ministry was a nightclub and the person playing was actually a D.J. 

She also found out that her bodyguards had contacts all over the city and it was easy for them to find someone to grant them access to the concert through a back entrance. She followed them through the hallways, smiling at the fact that both agents seemed to know everyone that worked at the club and she never thought to consider that security agents could enjoy going out to dance as a hobby.

The music level reached its maximum when they got to a balcony full of people that were drinking and looking down at the dancing crowd.

“That’s Riley Blue!” Wolfgang shouted, putting his hand on her lower back to push her closer to the railing so she could see the blond head of a what she thought was a woman in front of a shiny console. It was really hard to see with all the flickering lights and lasers and it was even harder to hear but that didn’t stop the man by her side, “She’s an old client!”

“Do you want to dance?” Agent O asked offering Kala a hand. She looked at Wolfgang waiting for his approval and she noticed that doing it was weird. She didn’t thought it would actually bother him but he was the one responsible for her safety.

“Go! Have fun!” he pushed her gently to Agent O and followed them down the stairs, but once downstairs he stood by a column at the edge of the dance floor and simply watched them go into the crowd.

“Don’t worry, he’s always like that when he’s on duty!” Agent O yelled leaning to her and Kala nodded, smiling at Wolfgang and she thought she saw him smiling back.

“I don’t know how to dance... this!” she confessed, looking around her a little lost. People were mostly jumping and moving their arms around in an uncoordinated way. She never went to places like this one in India. And when she did dance the music was melodic and the steps were more precise…

“Just do whatever you want!” The agent shouted, jumping and  moving his arms around in random ways that seemed fun.

It took her some time but by the third of Riley’s mixes Kala was bouncing up and down with him. She worried a little about her wig but it held in place as she combined some of O’s movements with a few steps of her favourite Bollywood movies.

It was fun being there. She couldn’t remember the last time she went to a party with her sister or her friends, or even Rajan. The last two years of her life had been only about being a good wife and a good boss… and she had just realized how much she missed dancing around and laughing with friends.

It was predictable with all the time they spent together but thinking like that was still a surprise considering they had only known each other for a few days. Still, every time she twirled, her eyes would find Wolfgang and she finally allowed herself to admit that she felt fondness for her bodyguard.

She cared about him and for the rest of the song she selfishly wished for more nights like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¡Feliz año nuevo! 
> 
> :D


	14. The DJ

It was late when Riley finished playing and Kala was afraid that would meant the end of their trip to the outside, but the agents guided her to a pub next door and a few minutes after they ordered two pints (for O and Kala only, obviously) their DJ friend caught up with them.

“How are you, girl?” Agent O asked giving her the longest of hugs and Riley seemed happy to be his arms.

“I’m fine. You look so handsome,” she said when he finally let go of her and then she turned to Wolfgang. “Hey B. How’s that arm doing?”

“Let your stalkers come in and I’ll show you how I’m doing,” Wolfgang said, also hugging the girl but for a shorter time than O. Kala smiled, amused at how this two clearly different guys seemed to be such good friends with their old client.

“And who’s this?”, Riley asked, finally reaching Kala.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Wolfgang answered quickly, putting his arm around Kala’s waist to bring her closer to him. She could feel her cheeks turning red, but she controlled her surprise and smiled shily.

“You? With a girlfriend?” Riley said in such a shocked way that made Kala look up at Wolfgang to measure his reaction. His lips were fixed on a smirk and his grip on her got tighter, “We gotta drink for that,” Riley finally said, looking suspiciously between both of them. She got another pint for her, and then raised her drink, “To…” 

“Kay,” Wolfgang said, leaning just enough to briefly kiss Kala’s hair and she could see O rolling his eyes. Riley didn’t see him, but her expression turned wary.

“Right,” she said and Kala knew that she knew. Certainly, she would be familiar with their modus operandi if she was an old client. Did she had to pretend to be Wolfgang’s girlfriend too at one point? “To Kay,” Riley rose her glass to her, a mischievous smile on her face, “the only one who could snatch the eternal Casanova.”

Wolfgang choked a little even though he wasn’t even drinking anything and Riley smiled. O chuckled shamelessly and Kala tried really hard not to do it.

“So how long have you’ve been together?” Riley asked and Kala answered while Wolfgang cleared his throat.

“Just a few months,” she said putting her free hand casually on Wolfgang's chest. Even if Riley knew the truth, it was better to stick to the story. For her safety, of course.

Riley nodded and then leaned against the bar. Her smile slowly turned into a straight line and her eyes were fixed on her drink when she spoke next, “I thought you agents left dating for us mortals...”

“Normally yeah but… Kay insisted so much that I couldn’t say no…”, Wolfgang’s hand went to meet Kala’s over his shirt and their fingers intertwined. She would have reacted flustered if it wasn’t for that smug smile of his. It ignited her competitive side and she made an effort to keep the charade up.

“So... do you know where G is?”

Their attention went back to Riley but she was talking to O now. Kala thought she looked sad and then realised she didn’t know who she was talking about.

“He’s fine,” O said. It took Kala a moment to realise who G might be and why the agent had avoided to answer, “a little bit busy but healthy, right B?”

Wolfgang just nodded while smoothly stealing Kala’s drink to take a sip. Kala pouted and he winked at her before running his hand up and down her side. She felt those damned shivers again and tried to ignored them (him) by turning her attention to Riley.

The blonde had been staring at them and then sighed, closing her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, it was with a cheerful voice and a smile that didn’t reach her eyes at all, “Next time you talk to him could you tell him to check his emails, please?”

“Of course,” said O, putting his arm around her shoulders to press her against his side. She let her head lay on him and then lifted her eyebrows at Kala’s empty hands.

“Well, what do you want to drink, Kay?”


	15. The bed

Wolfgang had dragged a drunk Felix back home several times in his life and his friend had done the same for him on many occasions.

Still, he wasn’t used to do it while on duty because it was of extreme importance that everyone kept sober to stay alive; but then again he didn’t expect Kala to drink her weight in mojitos on her first (and only) night out in London.

He didn’t hold it against her, of course. He supposed she had a strong need to forget about all that shit going on back in India, so he just helped her up the stairs, through the apartment door and then directed her to the right when she tried to turn left towards the kitchen.

The first thing she did was to rip the wig off her hair and toss it to the other side of the room. Then she shook her head, letting her black curls fall free over her shoulders and Wolfgang was almost too mesmerized to catch her when she stumbled.

She laughed, holding to his arms as he helped her to sit down on the bed.

“I’m dizzy,” she said with a tipsy voice while Wolfgang took off her shoes.

“You are drunk,” he helped her up to take off her coat.

“For real?” she asked surprised, putting her bare arms around his shoulders and Wolfgang stopped moving to steady her, “I’ve never been drunk before.”

She let her head fall back while laughing, letting Wolfgang admire up close her red lips, then the length of her neck and the low cut of her blouse…

Wolfgang swallowed, feeling thirsty, “You are doing a lot of firsts today…” he said laying her down on the bed and summoning all of his self-control to stand up and walk a few steps away, “First visit to London, first rave, first fifteen mojitos...”

Kala giggled, “They weren’t fifty…” that took a chuckle out of Wolfgang as he went to the closet to get some covers “who is G?”

“A fellow agent,” he answered, making sure that Kala was completely covered from shoulder to toe.

“Riley likes him?” She rolled on her side to face him. Her hair fell over her shoulders and for a moment it looked as if she was naked under the quilt. _This is the worst moment to be horny,_ Wolfgang thought as he shook his head to focus on the question.

“Yeah.”

“And does he like her?”

“I think so…”

“But they are not together...” Kala’s eyes narrowed.

Wolfgang took a few seconds to think. He wasn’t supposed to be talking about one of his colleagues’ love life (even if calling it _love life_ was generous) but he found the distraction useful to ease down the tension in his pants, “She used to be a client. It’s not professional.”

“Well, that’s stupid!” Kala reacted as if Wolfgang had stated something ridiculous, like saying the sky was green or some shit.

“How so?” he asked, way too amused by her intoxicated state. He wondered how she could look so sexy one second and completely adorable the next one.

“Because if they are in love, they should be together.”

Wolfgang wanted to say that only Riley and G could know if it was love, and that sometimes some lifestyles and professions prevented people from being together and that it was shitty but there was nothing to do about it… but she had managed to have fun for a few hours and he wasn’t about to ruin that. At least not tonight.

“Good night,” he said, walking towards the living room and suddenly Kala got up.

“Where are you going?”

“It’s three in the morning. I’m going to sleep,” he turned the bedroom lights off. The living room light was the only thing illuminating Kala and the bed since the blinds of her bedroom were perpetually shut.

“But you can’t sleep on the couch forever!”

Wolfgang sighed. He knew where this was going. He didn’t think that she was trying to seduce him but he had already realized that Kala was the kind of person to always think about other people’s needs before hers and him sleeping in that old thing wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by her, “It won’t be forever,” he said just trying to state the truth of their situation and then he saw the reaction he was trying to avoid unfolding right in front of his eyes.  

Kala’s shoulders fell in disappointment but she still patted the pillow beside her, “The bed is big enough,” she said in a weak voice and it was too much for him. He knew she didn’t mean it as an invitation to actually sleep together, but her faint pleading gave Wolfgang’s mind ideas he knew he shouldn’t have. He wondered about how it would feel like to press Kala’s body with his own against the mattress and he imagined her voice moaning out his name in that exact same tone.

“It wouldn’t be professional,” he said half-heartedly, shifting his position. Those damned pants got tight super easily.

“I feel safer with you.”

It was a low whisper, but he heard it as clear as if she were saying the words to his ear. A warm feeling filled his chest and he muttered a _Fuck it_ as he got back to the bed. He took off his shoes quickly and lay down by her side, leaving some distance between them, but not enough to look as if he were avoiding her. That seemed to calm her down for a little bit. Wolfgang’s eyes were fixed on the ceiling and he decided to stay like that no matter what. Even if he felt the heat of her stare burning his face.

“How did you get in this job?”

He took his time to determine how far he would go with the details. By now he knew that Kala didn’t like to stop after just one question, “Nomi Marks convinced me to do it.”

“So Nomi Marks’ job is to find nice men and gear them up…” Kala’s open palm felt suddenly on his chest.

“I’m not a good man,” he said, taking her hand off him, but still holding it.

“Of course you are,” she said with a conviction that almost made Wolfgang turn to her, but he resisted. Instead he tensed when he felt her fingers caressing his hand and his heart jumped in his chest. They had already held hands earlier that day but that was a performance; there had been an audience to convince.

In that bed, it was just them, with no reason to act like that. Alcohol didn’t count when he was working, “You protect people from bad men…” she continued seriously, completely unaware of the effect she had on him, “unlike Rajan…”

“Mrs. Rasal-”

“Please don’t call me that.”

He finally turned his head and was surprised to find tears in her eyes.

“Kala…” he held her hand firmly, rolling on his side to touch her face with his free hand, “You need to sleep,” a tear fell down her cheek and he caught it, “You’ll feel better tomorrow.”

“Okay,” she said sniffing. Then she dragged herself closer to him, stopping only when her head touched his shoulder and Wolfgang’s arms stayed up in the air, unsure of where to land “this way you won’t leave…”  

He chuckled at that. It was funny, the way she managed to sound so stubborn, even when she was drunk and sad. One of his hands finally fell over her back and the other pulled her arm around his torso. She sighed satisfied, snuggling against him and he selfishly wished for more nights like this, until he finally fell asleep too.  


	16. The morning after

Wolfgang woke up feeling incredibly well rested and his first thought was that he should change that old damned couch as soon as he got some time off. Then it occurred to him that maybe there was another reason for his good night of sleep. Maybe, a voice in his mind said (and he listened carefully), the reason was now resting her head against his chest, still sleeping soundly. 

He took his time to consider this. He decided it was bullshit. She was married. Then he reminded himself that it had never stopped him before and he agreed, remembering an italian redhead and a colombian girl and then Riley’s phrase from last night echoed loudly in his head:

_ The eternal Casanova. _

He frowned at that thought while his fingers played carefully with Kala’s hair. It was soft and she smelled of mint and rum. He liked her. A lot. He also liked sex and thankfully he was good-looking enough not to have to struggle to get it, but he didn’t consider himself a Casanova.

What the fuck was Will saying about him?

“Hmmmm,” Kala moved a little, moaning exactly as he had imagined she would the night before. Then he discovered that one of Kala’s hands had found its way under his shirt and she ran her fingers softly over his bare chest, making it harder to breath for Wolfgang.

His dick started to get hard and he cursed under his breath.

He didn’t sleep with clients and even if he did, he still thought that Kala wasn’t interested in him like that, regardless of the position they were in right now.

She had fought with her husband. Her marriage was in trouble and her life was in danger. People acted weird in exceptional situations. Wolfgang didn’t think she was the type  _ but  _ if she needed some distraction, maybe he could…

“Oh my god,” Kala whispered and she pushed herself up with her arms. Then she quickly took her hand from under Wolfgang’s shirt, turning red instantly and he would have been disappointed at the loss of her touch if she didn’t look too damned adorable all flustered like that.

“Good morning,” he said smugly, putting his hands behind his head.

Kala’s eyes grew bigger as she looked around the room, “What did… ?” her finger pointed frantically between the two of them… “Did we… ?” she covered her mouth with her hand, her imagination going undoubtedly wild while waiting for an answer. Nevermind that they were fully clothed.

“...have sex?” Wolfgang offered as casually as possible. Kala’s eyebrows went up until they disappeared under her messy long hair and he didn’t even had to think about what to answer next, “It was very special.”

Kala was completely mortified and she started mumbling things in Hindi that he couldn’t understand, but he didn’t have to. His serious face only lasted a few seconds and then he rolled around, snickering loud enough for her to stop her rambling and then he felt a soft hit against his head.

“Why… would you… say that?!” she roared hitting him several times with a pillow until Wolfgang rose to his knees to held her quickly by the wrists, making sure he didn’t squish too tight.

“You asked me to stay with you,” he said, still smiling and Kala’s expression softened. She was breathing heavily and her knees stumbled a little, causing their noses to bump against each other. Wolfgang looked straight into her brown eyes, “You said you felt safe with me…”

He caught her eyes dropping to his lips and he almost kissed her right there but she suddenly freed her wrists and crawled to the edge of the bed, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience,” she said speaking in a formal tone that made his stomach drop.  

_ That’s more like it _ , he thought disappointed and then he left the bed and walked to the door.

“How’s your head?”

It took her a few seconds to look up to him and when she did she seem mortified in that way only married women looked like when they started to question their commitments and morals. He did know that look pretty well if he was honest. Maybe Riley wasn’t exaggerating after all.

“It hurts a little,” Kala admitted and Wolfgang offered her a sympathetic smile.

“I’ll make you something for that headache,” he said, finally leaving that room as he had intended since last night. Everything had changed though, because now he knew. It didn’t matter that Kala couldn’t admit it sober; she desired him as much as he desired her and the only way there was to avoid a disaster was to return her to her husband as soon as the situation was controlled.

Even if he didn’t want to.


	17. Found

They went to the store because they ran out of bread. Wolfgang politely informed Kala of the trip outside and she politely agreed to go along. He didn’t mention last night and she didn’t mention that morning. She felt a little weird acting all distant all of a sudden but some space was needed if she had asked him to spend the night with her. Even if it was only to sleep. It was wrong. She was a married woman. 

_ Not for long _ , said a voice in her head and she was surprised, but she didn’t have enough time to question it.

Their trip to the store lasted less than ten minutes, but it was enough time for someone to force the apartment door and close it again, as if nothing had happened. They wouldn’t have noticed, except that the toothpick was laying on the floor, at Wolfgang’s feet. He pushed Kala away from the door as he retrieved his gun from the waistband of his pants.

“If I say run, you run. If something happens to me, you get away and go straight to the High Commission of India.”

“Don’t…” she tried to get a hold of his clothes, but he raised his free hand to keep her from touching him.

“Okay?” his eyebrows rose; his eyes were too intense and Kala wanted to tell him that they should just run, but she also knew he wouldn’t listen.  

“Okay,” she whispered and her throat closed.

Kala saw Wolfgang opening the door slowly and then he crossed the threshold. She did her best to control her breathing and closed her eyes briefly. She silently prayed to Ganesha and begged for her help but then a faraway crack of wood made her head turn to the stairs.

She swallowed hard, trying to concentrate and then she was sure there were footsteps. Someone was climbing up the staircase. There was no way of knowing if it was a neighbor or someone to wanted to hurt her, so she slowly took some steps inside the apartment, just in time to see Wolfgang’s back disappear inside the bedroom, the gun ready in his hand.

She was about to go behind him to warn him about the possible threat toutside when a loud crash coming from inside the bedroom made her scream. Next, she could hear Wolfgang struggling with someone else but the sound of fast footsteps on the hallway made her go hide in the kitchen.

She looked around quickly and took a frying pan from the stove, ready to defend herself.

“Kala!” she heard Wolfgang’s panicked call but before she could answer there was a man entering the kitchen. She only took the time to look at him after hitting him hard on the head. He stumbled; half his face was covered in some kind of black scarf. He looked angrily at her and took out a gun. He whined when she hit it off his right hand, but then raised the left one without losing a beat, intending to hit her.

She knew that she would be knocked out by him and she flinched, waiting for the punch to connect but instead there was a low, guttural sound and the next thing she knew was that the man attacking her fell lifeless to the floor, with a knife sticking out of the back of his head.

“Let’s go!” someone took her hand. She looked around hopefully and was surprised to see it was Agent O dragging her to the living room.

“But Wolfgang!” In that moment Wolfgang rolled on the floor through the bedroom door, fighting with someone. After some struggle he got to be on top of his opponent and looked up to them while hitting the masked man on the face.

“Take her out!” Wolfgang growled at O, who was hesitating. There was whining coming out of the bedroom; a third attacker.

“No!” she cried out trying in vain to free herself from Agent O’s strong hold on her arm.

“Run!” Wolfgang yelled and the last thing Kala saw before leaving the apartment was her bodyguard taking a gun from the floor and pointing it to the bedroom.

Agent O’s managed to drag her down the stairs and then to the sidewalk, but as he let her go to take out his keys the sound two gunshots made Kala scream.

People on the street stopped to stare at them and the building as she ran back inside.

“Kala!” O called out but she was already climbing the stairs frantically. At the second set someone jumped right in front of her and she was ready to just push past the person to get to the apartment, but Wolfgang’s raspy voice made her look up.  

“You are terrible at following orders,” he muttered, gasping for air and prompted her to go downstairs.

His arm went around her and she tried to calm her breathing, telling herself that it was all over and he was alright as they left the building. Kala didn’t realise that he was crouching on her until he tried to get into the car and he winced, his face contorting out of pain.

“What’s wrong?” Kala asked, leaning over him on the backseat while Agent O started the car. He drove away, turning to take narrow side streets with less traffic. Wolfgang’s hand went to cover his left side and he smiled at her pitifully.

“I failed at laying low.”

We failed, Kala thought, remembering the amazing night she had with both agents before and she wanted to tell him that it wasn’t his fault, but then something hit the back of the car and Wolfgang held on to her to pull her down.

“They are here!”

“Lose them!” Wolfgang yelled and Kala’s body was laying almost completely over him. She closed her eyes, holding tight to Wolfgang’s shirt as the car took some wild turns. Beyond the sound of the wheels scratching, she definitely heard more gunshots. And then Wolfgang’s mouth was by her ear, “It’s going to be alright.”

He didn’t sound confident at all and her arm and low back started to hurt because of the force of his grip. Still, she believed him.

“Come on, come on, come on…” Agent O muttered. Kala couldn’t see the road but the car jumped violently and then came to a sudden halt. She would have hit the back of his seat if it weren’t for Wolfgang.

“We’re safe,” Agent O breathed and he turned the car off.

Kala didn’t move right away. She tried to calm down first. Her head was spinning because of all the jumps and turns and she thought she was going to throw up but then Wolfgang’s hand let go of her waist and it started going up and down her back.

He was muttering something… it sounded like german. Kala didn’t understand it, but for once she ignored the impulse to ask questions and tried to focus on her breathing, Wolfgang’s voice and the movement of his, hand until she could breath again.

“Are you alright?” O asked finally, turning his head to see them. That reminded Kala that Wolfgang had been hurt before.

“How are you?” she asked, getting off his embrace and started to inspect him for any visible injuries.

“It’s just a flesh wound,” he said holding his left side again and Kala started to lift his soaking wet black shirt immediately. There was a long cut covered in blood, but it didn’t look deep and she felt relieved.

“Do you have anything I could use?” she asked, throwing a quick glance at Agent O.

“I have everything you need.” O said confidently and then left his seat to walk to the back of the car. He opened the trunk and after some rummaging he resurfaced with a bag that he passed to Kala through the driver’s door, “I’ll go get us another car,” he said then, throwing the keys beside Kala, “Don’t move from here unless it’s completely necessary.”

Kala looked around as he left and found and endless row of cars left and right. They were in a parking lot. She then proceeded to open the bag, finding lots of medical supplies, some cash, credit cards and passports. Her passport was there too. She held it up and turned to Wolfgang.

“You knew this could happen.”

“I knew it would happen… but I honestly believed we still had more days before they found us.”

Kala felt instantly guilty, “I’m sorry,” she said while she took a bottle of alcohol out of the bag, “We only went out because I was being annoying.”

She started to sanitize the wound and Wolfgang grimaced, “My job is to keep you safe,” he groaned through clenched teeth, “Happy even… when possible.”

“Maybe you’d like to change to another assignment,” she suggested while carefully opening a plastic bag with gauzes.

“I’ve been through worse… and for less beautiful people,” Wolfgang closed his eyes once his wound was completely covered, “thank you”.

Kala gave him a quick smile. His last comment didn’t go unnoticed by her but she wasn’t feeling like herself enough to blush, “So, what now?” she asked, pulling the ruined shirt back down.

Wolfgang looked at her in silence for a whole minute and Kala crossed her arms. He was safe now and his wound was clean, so there was no excuse for her to touch him anymore.

_ Distance. _

When he finally spoke it was in a calm voice as if they were discussing what dessert to order at a restaurant and not their next move to scape a criminal organization, “First, I need to make a call. Then we leave the country.”


	18. On the run

Wolfgang talked to Agent O alone for about ten minutes at the gates of the airport. Then, when the Agent went to say goodbye to Kala he gave her the same big bear hug he had given Riley after her show. 

“Take care,” he whispered before offering his brightest smile. He was always so candid, anyone would think that she was going on vacation instead of trying to hide in another country. Again.

He also hugged Wolfgang and she thought she saw the blond’s lips muttering a ‘thank you’ before they let go of each other.

“Call me when you’re back in London!” was the last thing Agent O yelled at her before leaving them alone.

The next four hours gave Kala a sense of déjà vu from the first airplane they took together. They went through lines and lines of people in silence and it was only ten minutes after she fastened her seatbelt that she turned around to talk to Wolfgang.

“The man in the kitchen wasn’t Indian,” she said. She had been replaying the attack over and over again in her head and part of her knew that her calmed demeanour only meant that she still needed some processing to do and that she would have to vent eventually. But in the meantime, she would take advantage of the shock-induced clarity.  

“I thought so, but I really didn’t have time to look at their faces.” Wolfgang commented, his brow furrowing.  

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing new. We already knew it was an international crime organisation,” he said and then a mischievous smile formed on his lips, “I just need to hide you better.”

“That’s the reason we are going so far this time?”

“Yeah. Normally I like the confrontational approach a lot more when things get like this, but you are my priority,” his hand went to rest above hers.

_ Distance,  _ a voice reminded her inside her head but she ignored it. She needed his warmth, “What would you do normally?” she asked to shut down all the conflicting thoughts inside her, “dress up like Rambo and go on a killing spree?”

“I don’t like Stallone that much but yeah, basically,” he said, completely serious, “What?”

“It’s just… too much violence,” Kala said, trying to sound outraged instead of concerned. A few hours before she saw him winning a fight while outnumbered but her chest hurt at the idea of him doing it again.

“I told you I’m not a good man,” his eyes were fixed on her and he talked as if the statement was a fixed fact of the universe.

“Neither is my hus… Rajan,” she corrected. Her definition of what made a man good or bad was definitely being challenged in these last couple of days, “We’ve been married for two years but I only found out about his dirty business a couple of months ago,” she explained. She didn’t know why but she wanted him to understand, “He knew it was bad but he continued. We got married, his father died… and he only felt ashamed of his actions when I found out.”

“Do you still love him?”

“I never loved him,” it was a truth she had tried to say out loud many times but she always failed. But now it was so easy to admit… maybe it was another consequence of the shock? “My family thought I did so I played along,” she kept on explaining, turning her body slightly to the left so she could see him better, “They think this is the first marriage of love in the family. I’m just a liar.”

Wolfgang turned a little bit to his right too, making a grimace when the movement proved painful for his wound, “It’s okay. There are worse things to be,” his grip on her hand grew stronger, “It’s never too late to be honest.”

Wolfgang’s blue eyes found hers and she held his stare for a few seconds. She only gave up when her eyes dropped to his lips and, noticing how close they had gotten while talking, she let them fall completely over his hands. It was safer. “I should… get a divorce when this is over.”

“And after that we’ll go celebrate at the Ministry,” Wolfgang’s thumb started to go back and forth over her skin and Kala’s eyes grew bigger suddenly.

“I left your hoodie back in the apartment! And I never got to ride the London Eye!”

“It’s okay,” Wolfgang said with a tiny smile on his lips, “We’ll get you another one when we get to Mexico.”


	19. Mexico - The airport

Technically speaking, Mexico’s infamous crime history didn’t make it the ideal place to hide any of Wolfgang’s clients, let alone Kala, but this was the earliest flight they could take to another continent without her needing a Visa, so he just bought the tickets.

The flight lasted 20 hours and they spent most of them in silence. Kala managed to sleep a little. Wolfgang held her in his arm as soon as her head started tilting and he let her rest over his shoulder until she abruptly woke up, excusing herself as she sat upright again.

Kala was awfully silent. She would only speak to ask him how he was feeling and she would answer in short, polite sentences when he asked the same questions back.

Officially, Wolfgang had known Kala for five days but it felt longer already. He was sure that this calm of hers was only temporary and she would only let it all out once they were away from people. Or maybe once she were away from him.

He tried to sleep a little bit too because every minute he spent awake he felt mostly unhappy with his performance as a bodyguard. He had failed. An attempt against Kala was expected, sure, but he had let himself get distracted by her. He had been more invested on her feelings than her security and now she was the one paying the price.

He was a fucking moron.

Wolfgang belittled himself non-stop until they landed. It was past midnight and the place was almost empty, except for the few people spending the night, waiting for the next day to finally leave the place.

He grabbed his backpack with his left hand and held Kala’s waist with his right. She looked up at him, confused for a second, but then it seemed to click in her head and she got closer to him as they walked through more lines to verify their papers.

Once the checking was done Wolfgang stopped before the gates of the airport, taking a moment to consider their options and then he turned to her.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, suspecting that he knew the answer already but he wanted to know for sure before proposing their next step.

“Tired,” said Kala with a raspy voice, pressing her lips together in a weak attempt of a smile, “Are we going to another safe house?”

“Do you think you can hold on for another flight?”

Kala looked at him and, for a moment, Wolfgang saw a flash of frustration in her eyes, but she suppressed it as fast as it occured, “What do you want to do?”

“I’m thinking to move to another city. A smaller one.” Wolfgang took out his phone and started to look up other less popular destinations. “And then we’ll keep on moving until it’s safe for you to go back home...”

Wolfgang didn’t see Kala but he could feel her body tensing beside him after his last sentence. He knew it wasn’t his place but he wanted to ask her about it… just not right now. In the meantime, he would have to settle with his hand running up and down her back. He knew the gesture would have calmed her down eventually if it weren’t for the thunderous yell that made both of them jump.

“OH MY GOD YOU ARE ALIVE!”

Wolfgang turned around, ready to protect Kala with his body, but she was never in danger. A tall man almost tackled him and he would have fell to the floor if not for the two big arms wrapped around him. They put enough pressure over his wound to make him wince. He was confused at first but then the smell of the cologne made Wolfgang reluctantly smile at his weird luck.

“Hello Lito,” said Wolfgang, stepping back to take a good look at one of the world’s most famous actors, although right now he didn’t look like the superstar he had become. Lito Rodriguez was wearing the biggest sunglasses Wolfgang had ever seen, along with a cap with the logo of a soccer team he didn’t recognize and a hoodie that completed his undercover look nicely.

Just as Wolfgang had taught him.

There was an abandoned suitcase behind Lito and further away, two people were slowly walking towards them.

“It’s been so long! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming to Mexico?” Lito asked, shaking Wolfgang by the shoulders, a broad smile on his face.

“I… didn’t want to bother you,” Wolfgang said simply, shrugging with innocence and he noticed Lito hesitate for a few seconds. He knew that he wasn’t good at lying in general, but most of the world believed what he said easily, except for Lito. Still, the man knew when to ignore a subject, and he flashed a charming smile.

“You could never bother me, _hombre_. You are my hero!” Lito then turned around and waved at the people that were waiting by his forgotten suitcase, while Wolfgang took advantage of the moment to offer an apologetic smile to a confused Kala, “Dany! Hernando!” Lito called and his voice echoed in the almost empty airport, “Look who I found!” The pair that arrived were also dragging suitcases. Wolfgang didn’t recognized the woman but he remembered the man’s face. “It’s Benito, remember? My bodyguard during the Iberian Dreams press tour!”

“My God, it’s true” the man with the glasses said, extending his hand to shake Wolfgang’s I’m…”

“Hernando, Lito’s boyfriend.” Wolfgang completed, shaking his hand, “From skype, right?”

“Yeah. You were at the hospital after you took that bullet for Lito…”

“You what?!” Kala squealed, her eyes looking suddenly completely awake with surprise while the other woman covered her mouth with her hands.

“I was just doing my job, darling,” said Wolfgang, reaching out to take her hand and pull her close to him and Lito took his glasses off with a rushed gesture, and then pointed between both of them.

“Wait. Is this your… you are Benito’s girlfriend?”

“Agent B, Lito,” Wolfgang rolled his eyes at the sound of his old and ridiculous nickname.

“But ‘Benito’ sounds so cute!” the other woman said at last, shaking the astonishment off her face easily, “Hi, I’m Daniela.”

“I’m Kala,” she shook the other woman’s hand, still looking worryingly at Wolfgang out of the corner of her eye.

“So what are you doing here? Vacation? Honeymoon?” Lito asked, putting his glasses inside his hoodie’s pocket while winking at Kala.

“The first one,” Wolfgang said while sliding his hand back over Kala’s waist. He tried not to think too much about the way her hands held to his shirt, “I took some time off from work and wanted to spend every minute of it with Kala.”

“That’s so romantic!” said Daniela grabbing Hernando by the arm, “We are going on vacation too. Lito is between movies so Hernando and I convinced him that he needed to relax…”

“We are going to a private beach. You should come with us!” Lito said enthusiastically, his eyes fixed on Wolfgang.

“Oh… no, we don’t want to...”

“We don’t want to bother you.” Wolfgang completed Kala’s phrase while smiling at her. Running into old clients wasn’t part of the plan but it seemed to be a recurring theme for this particular job.

“Benito, you saved my life,” Lito said in a weirdly inspired tone that reminded Wolfgang the acting of his movies, particularly of his character in The Devil Died at Dawn (Wolfgang had binge-watched his movies with Felix during one stormy weekend). Lito took a couple of steps closer to them, putting one hand on Wolfgang’s shoulder and the other one on Kala’s, “The least I can do is offer you both a room in my gigantic mansion on my private beach. And did I mention the private plane? I know you like to be discreet.”

“Lito,” now it was Hernando getting closer to them to pull at one of Lito’s arms until he got to hold his hand, “Maybe they just want to spend some time alone, you know?”

Daniela smiled awkwardly and Kala lay her head over Wolfgang’s shoulder, but he was still looking at Lito, and it didn’t take long for him to make his choice.

“The more the merrier, that’s how it goes, right?” Wolfgang said, turning to Kala to wink at her, “When are we leaving?”


	20. The prayer

The second flight was shorter and Kala slept the whole trip, but it wasn’t enough to help her stand on her own two feet at their arrival, so Wolfgang decided to lift her in his arms as soon as they got off the private plane, and he carried her through the grounds of Lito’s beach mansion. 

In the dark the gardens seemed to be infinite, which gave the place the feel of a castle. Wolfgang could hear the waves of the ocean in the distance, continuously breaking against the sand. He felt a pulse of longing. It had been a few weeks since the last time he had the chance to go for a swimming, but then Kala squirmed in his arms and brought him back to the present. He entered the house and they were received by a group of people that hurried to help them with their luggage, but Wolfgang just kept on walking behind Daniela while Lito and Hernando went to settle in their own bedroom.

“You are such a gentleman,” Dany whispered to him while guiding them to the closest guest room up the stairs.

Wolfgang didn’t realize how tired he was until he finished climbing the stairs with Kala in his arms. Dany held the door open for him and turned on the lights while Wolfgang let Kala down on the bed as gently as possible, “Have a good night,” she whispered happily as she closed the door behind her and Wolfgang sat at the edge of the bed, letting his backpack fall slowly to the floor.

He took a quick glance at the room. It was simple, but elegant. There was a big window that probably led to a balcony. Two doors: closet and bathroom. There was also a tiny sofa, a dresser and a full body mirror that reflected his shitty looking face back at him.

Wolfgang took a deep breath, noticing that now his arms and back were hurting too. He blinked and his eyelids felt heavy. Maybe he was getting too old for this. He took another look at Kala, who was breathing peacefully in her sleep and he sighed while his hand rummaged through the stuff in his backpack, looking for some cigarette package that he couldn’t find. Slowly, he rose to his feet and walked to the door, intending to look for Lito and ask him if he still smoked.

He didn’t expect to hear the actor’s voice behind him just after he closed the door.

“So you date your clients now?” the man asked with an innocent voice, standing in the middle of the dark corridor with his hands hidden behind his back.

“I don’t remember you being this sneaky,” Wolfgang said, trying to conceal his surprise from Lito, but knowing he couldn’t quite make it so due to the fatigue.

“I learned from the best. Now answer my question.”

Wolfgang sighed, crossing his arms, “You know I don’t. It’s just a cover.”

“I knew it!” the man whispered intensely as he got closer to Wolfgang, “Is she in a lot of trouble?”

The blond nodded and his eyes dropped to the floor between them, “We’ll leave tomorrow, I promise.”

“Come on. You can stay, nobody knows you are here.”

“But they will find out eventually.” Wolfgang said with a grave voice as he raised his head to look him in the eye. He didn’t like being dramatic but sometimes it was the only way to get Lito to listen.

Lito bit his lip nervously and then nodded, moving his arms to show Wolfgang the bag he was hiding behind himself, “... I brought you these. I noticed you didn’t have a suitcase… You must have come to Mexico in a hurry, right?”

Wolfgang just nodded, not wanting to give any details of the fiasco his current mission had turned into, “Thank you.”

Lito offered him a tiny smile and, thank God, he started to retreat without pressing the subject, “ _ Buenas noches. _ ”

Wolfgang went back into the room and froze at the sight of Kala, sitting by the edge of the bed with her hands together in front of her chest and her eyes closed.

He had heard her whispering in her room back in London. That’s how he knew when she was awake, but he had not seen her doing it until now, so he just waited for her to finish, mesmerized by the quick movements of her full lips and the way her brow furrowed as her praying got desperate right by the end.

“Who are you praying to?” he asked as soon as she opened her eyes. He left the bag Lito gave him over the tiny sofa by the window and then went to sit beside her.

“Ganesha.” Kala answered, her eyes fixed on her hands as she rubbed them together.

“Do you ever get an answer?”

“I think I do sometimes… like yesterday.”

“What did you ask for?”

Her eyes climbed slowly to Wolfgang’s face and he was somewhat relieved at the sight of tears waiting for the right moment to fall. That was good, she needed to get it all off her chest.

“You could have died, but you didn’t.”

Suddenly, Wolfgang felt dizzy and a part of him wanted to believe that it was just the mix of pain, hunger and exhaustion, but he knew better than that and so he let the pressure in his chest spread through his whole body. He took a deep breath so his voice could come out steady when he talked, “I’ve been told that I’m pretty hard to kill…” he teased, but Kala pressed her lips together and started to sniff, “Hey, don’t worry. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

Her arms came around him so fast he almost fell off the bed, but he shifted his feet to stay in place and hugged her back. He could feel his neck and shoulder getting wet.

“I was so scared…”

“I’m sorry,” he apologized instead of saying that he had been scared too. Not about dying. He hadn’t been scared of death for a long time, but there were a couple of moments the day before when he thought he would lose the fight, and that meant that Kala would be in danger.

He pressed his lips against her neck softly as she sobbed quietly into his arms. It wasn’t exactly a kiss, but he needed to feel her skin just a little bit to keep on going. Just a little fix before he let her go.

“We should sleep now,” he said getting off her embrace as gently as possible and then he pointed to the bed, “This one looks way nicer than the one in London…”

Kala let out a short laugh and he was amazed at how fast that little sound made him feel better. He smiled too and then he felt her fingers brush against his, “You are staying here, right?”

A lot of things went through his head in just a couple of seconds. It was mostly in the form of a list of pros and cons, recited in Capheus’ voice, but then he decided that he owed her some comfort after his screw up. And he would do anything to make it up to her.

“Only if you want me to.” He said while looking into her eyes. Kala held his blue gaze as she bit her lip for a moment before taking a breath to speak.

“Stay.”


	21. The balcony

Kala woke up to the sound of the ocean. She opened her eyes and found herself alone in bed. She remembered clearly that she had asked Wolfgang to stay with her. Again. And he had accepted. She extended her arm to the empty space beside her and she could feel that the covers were still warm. She sat up slowly and noticed that the big windows on the wall were in fact glass doors and one was open. 

She left the bed and walked into the sunshine. The first thing she noticed was Wolfgang; he was leaning against the wall, looking at the view.

And what a view it was.

She remembered bits of last night’s conversation and someone talking about a beach house and now she could really see how the blue ocean filled everything until it reached the line of the horizon. Their tones of blue were so similar it was almost impossible to tell where the sky began. It was wonderful. She took a deep breath of air and turned to Wolfgang when she noticed the smell of tobacco.

“It’s beautiful,” he said smiling and then he took a long drag of his cigarette, “I love water.”

“That’s why we are here?” she asked, amused.

Wolfgang exhaled the smoke, “That and the private plane. I’m glad to see Lito learned something from our time together.”

“But we are not staying…” Kala’s eyes narrowed and Wolfgang shook his head.

“We would put our hosts in danger. Lito…” the blond stopped. He took a few seconds to continue and Kala felt like he had changed his mind about whatever he was about to say before, “Lito saw we didn’t have our suitcases so he lent us some clothes. We’ll go shopping later.”

“What did you tell him?” she crossed her arms.

“That the airport lost our bags,” he said casually. It was lie. A little one. He knew he should tell her about Lito knowing about their cover but that could mean the end of their charade and he wasn’t ready for that. Not yet, “how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine…but your wound. Let me see it.” Kala took a step closer and started to pull on the hem of his shirt without hesitating. She took off the bandage and was relieved to see that it was already healing even though he didn’t had any time to rest. The wound had darkened and there was deep purple bruise all around it. “It’s healing… but I don’t think you can get in the ocean…”

“Why not?”

“Because the water is filled with bacteria and even the smallest cut could get infected and then you could really die…”

“I told you last night that I’m pretty hard to kill.”

He had. And then she had cried in his arms. Kala could feel her cheeks getting heated, so she turned to face the view, “Still, I won’t let you…” she said stubbornly and heard him chuckle.

“Tap water is still good right? I can take a shower…” Wolfgang took a step closer to her, turning his head to blow the smoke away from her face.

“You can.” Kala found herself making a real effort not to face the blond. She really wanted to, but he was too close. And then, feeling that her mind was starting to think a little too much about Wolfgang in the shower, she tried to keep herself on track by concentrating on his wound, “And remember to clean it with soap. But be careful. And you can drop the bandage now. It needs air…”

“I want to finish this,” he said in a low voice, lifting his cigarette, “so you go first. Your clothes are in the bag over the chair.”

“Okay,” she turned around and went back inside, completely conscious that it looked like she was running away from him. She wasn’t, but maybe she should.


	22. Little lies

She came out of the bathroom wearing a soft pink flowery dress and it felt amazing to have something that resembled her own style again. Still, she had missed the hoodie last night, but Wolfgang had promised to replace it now that they were in Mexico and she would hold him to it.

When she opened the bathroom door she heard Wolfgang speaking fast and in a low voice. She found him sitting on the bed and she couldn’t understand anything he was saying because he was speaking German, but he noticed her presence and looked up at her while arguing with whoever was at the other side. She could tell that it was a woman. Kala wondered if it was Marks or Caplan, surely asking about the attack in London and demanding to know about their new location. After a few minutes the voice changed and Wolfgang’s eyes narrowed. Then she heard it, low but clear:

“I want to speak with my wife, please.”

It was Rajan. Wolfgang stood up, his eyes fixed on her. She felt a rush of panic.

“No.” Wolfgang answered and the possessiveness behind his voice made her shiver. She tried to divert her sight while listening to her husband demand with an alarmed voice:

“I need to talk to her. Put her on the phone now!”

“It’s okay,” she said finally, extending her hand to receive the phone. She didn’t want to see them arguing about her. Wolfgang gave her the phone and got closer to hear ear.

“Don’t tell him where we are,” he instructed with such intent she started to doubt his reasons were all work-related, but she nodded anyway. He walked towards the bathroom, snatching the bag with his clothes before closing the door and Kala waited for the sound of the water running before speaking.

“ _Hailo_?”

“Kala, my love! How are you?” Rajan asked and Kala felt like it had been weeks since the last time she had talked to him, instead of just a few days.

“I’m fine, I think.” She tried to sound casual. Her eyes wandered to the bathroom door.

“I miss you so much.” Rajan continued and she couldn’t say the same thing about him.

“I miss you all… how’s everyone?” The last bit came out with desperation, because she suddenly remembered that he must had information about her family.

“Your family is fine. They have protection all day long,” then his voice turned to a whisper, “Miss Marks told me they have found a solid lead to get to the leader of the organization. She says you will be home sooner than we think…”

“I can’t wait,” she said the first proper thing that popped in her head. It was a lie. A little one. She wanted to go back to India and to hold her family in her arms for days, but she was in no hurry to see Rajan.

“I have to go now Kala but I’ll see you soon, I promise,” said Rajan. Kala sighed, relieved that their time was up. “I love you so much.”

Kala opened her mouth but nothing came out of it. She tried to say it back. She had years of practice but she could still feel the way Wolfgang’s arms held her through the night. She was confused about a lot of things, but she knew she didn’t want to pretend anymore, “Take care Rajan.”

The call ended and she sat down slowly on the bed. She remained there, wondering how her life had turned like this, until she heard the bathroom door opening.

Wolfgang joined her. He was wearing jeans, a dark blue t-shirt, and a towel was hanging from his shoulders. When he spoke, the intensity in his voice had been replaced with calm and steadiness.

“Can I ask, what did he tell you?” He said oddly, like he was trying too hard to be formal.

“He told the me your agency has a good lead. That I would be returning home soon.” She said and she wondered why she couldn’t bring herself to even smile a little bit.

“Well, those are good news, right?” He said and Kala looked at him because he sounded weird. His smile was off too. Was he pretending or something? “That means... less ninjas throwing knives to our faces.” She finally formed a sad smile while Wolfgang threw the towel to the couch and then he extended his hand to her, “Let’s go get something to eat, I’m starving.”


	23. A meal with friends

The elegance of the place was almost magnificent enough to make Kala forget Wolfgang’s weird demeanor. Almost. 

They walked in front of antique decorations and paintings on white walls, surrounded by black furniture that made her feel a little uncomfortable. It looked too much like the home she shared with Rajan, and all she wanted was to stop thinking about him. They rushed down the stairs and followed the sound of chatter and laughter until they found Hernando and Dany in the kitchen, watching as Lito cooked something on the stove. 

As they entered, Dany rushed to them, regarding Kala from head to toe. “My god you look so cute! Lito told me about your suitcase. Do you want me to call the airport to yell at them in Spanish?”

“She can get whatever she wants.” Hernando said distractedly as he tried to steal some food from Lito, but all he got was a playful slap on his hand. 

“It’s okay. I’ll just take her shopping for new clothes.” Wolfgang said smugly, pulling Kala to sit by his side and Dany’s eyes brightened. 

“Oh, you are such a good boyfriend!” she said, her fingers gliding over the screen of her cellphone and Hernando elbowed Lito when he noticed this.

“Dany! Eat. Now. No Phones.” Lito said in a menacing tone, offering her a plate full of rice and meat. Kala felt the emptiness of her stomach the second she laid eyes on the food, “Are you hungry?” 

“Of course they are, it’s almost four.” said Hernando, ready to receive another plate on his hands. 

“Really?” Kala didn’t expect it to be that late. 

“The jet lag is a bitch.” Wolfgang said, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. Kala wondered how long was he intending to grab her hand. 

“You are from India right?” Hernando asked and the mention of her homeland took her out of her Wolfgang-related thoughts. She nodded, trying to take a plate from Lito with just one hand. “Then there is almost half a day of difference…” 

“I’ve never been to India. Is that where you met?” Dany asked and although Kala did hear her question, she was too busy enjoying the local cuisine to think of a fake answer for that one. 

“No. We met in Paris.” Wolfgang said casually and Kala’s eyes went wide: she had never been to Paris. 

“Oh my god, is like you two came out of a movie!” Dany said, tapping her fingers dangerously close to her phone, “Trop romantique!” 

“We’ve never been to Paris...” Hernando complained, pouting at his boyfriend. 

“I was there for the tour of one of my movies.” Lito said, passing another plate to Wolfgang. “And trust me, the place is overrated, right Benito?” 

“It depends on the company…” Wolfgang teased, squeezing Kala’s hand while Lito threatened him with his wooden spoon.

“And how did it happen?” Dany continued her questioning.

“Why don’t you tell them, _darling_?” Wolfgang turned to Kala with a sly smile on his face before taking the first bite of his food. The girl tried to hide her panic by narrowing her eyes. 

“Of course... _honey_ ,” she said, raising one eyebrow with the last word and then took a napkin to wipe her mouth, trying to gain some time. She knew Paris very little. Mostly thanks to movies and T.V. “I was… looking at the Eiffel tower one day and…  then... some random man… a thief...” Wolfgang averted his gaze at the word but Kala didn’t notice that, “...stole my purse. I ran after him... but he was much faster and then out of nowhere I saw… Benito.” she smiled at him then, trying to bother the blond but he only pursed his lips, clearly trying not to laugh at her. “He stopped the thief.” Kala continued, caressing Wolfgang’s shoulder while turning towards the others,.“He gave me back my purse and as a way to show him my gratitude I invited him to dinner that night.”

“And later she dragged me to her hotel room.” Wolfgang added, and Kala hit his arm. “Hey!” 

“What a nice story.” Hernando said, sighing and holding Lito’s arm. 

“A good one to tell your children one day.” 

“Dany!” Lito and Hernando yelled at the same time, making Kala jump and consequently, Wolfgang’s arm was instantly around her. 

“Only if you want them, Jesus!” Dany said, lifting her hands to show she surrendered and Kala’s head turned when she heard Wolfgang laughing. 

The last time she saw him this happy was with O and Riley at the bar. Something inside her went warm at the sight of his smile and when he looked at her, she was sure that her cheeks were turning red. “Lito!” She turned to look at her host so fast that her neck hurt a little. The man looked at her, waiting for her to say something. “Thanks for the food. It was delicious.” 

 _That wasn’t that bad_ , she thought, completely aware of Wolfgang’s closeness. Their legs side to side. His hand over her waist. 

And now her heart was racing. Would Wolfgang notice that? Lito sure did not. 

“Mom’s recipe.” He replied, winking. 

“So, guys,” Dany started talking in a mischievous tone, “tonight we were planning to go out to a dance club and we’d like to invite you If you don’t have any other plans...” 

The proposition brought Kala out of the whirlwind caused by her feelings. The last time she had gone out to party they had been caught. True, it had taken the bad guys like five days to get to them but the memories of their last hour in London made her feel uneasy. How to know if she was truly safe in another continent? She remained silent, confident that Wolfgang would come up with a convincing excuse to stay in their room that night. 

But instead, she heard him say, “Yeah, why not?” 


	24. Dance lessons

Wolfgang knew it was wrong and against the rules and all that shit. And he also remembered telling her that they would only go out once, but feeling Kala’s tension at the mention of a party, and seeing her shrink on her seat made him realize that he really didn’t care about the rules anymore. 

He wanted to see Kala happy and he had learned the hard way that confinement did horrible things to her spirit. 

And that’s how they ended up at a nightclub with live latin music. The place was mostly dark and the low lights revealed clouds of smoke that smell of tobacco. Almost all the tables were full, as was the bar and the dance floor. There were about a dozen couples swirling around at the rhythm dictated by the band up at the stage. 

“Wow.” He heard Kala say and turned around to see her amazed expression. 

“Do you know how to dance salsa?” Dany yelled over the music, pulling Kala to the first empty table she could find. Lito and Hernando had disappeared but if Wolfgang knew his ex-client well, he just went to get alcohol. Hopefully, lots of it. 

“I’ve seen people dance it but I’ve never tried…” 

“Oh it’s super easy. _Ven_.” 

Dany then dragged Kala a few steps away, just at the limit of the dance floor and proceeded to show her the placement of the arms and how to move her feet. Wolfgang sat and admired his client from head to toe. Dany had been nice enough to lend her one of her dresses. It was red, short and had a really low cut at the front. Red really suited Kala, and that dress plus her long black hair, and the glow of her brown skin when one of the lights found her shoulder… it was just too much. Wolfgang could feel tickling at the tip of his fingertips. He wanted to touch her so bad, and judging by the tightness of his pants, he was clearly aching to fu-

“Benito! Don’t tell me you are playing dumb!” Lito complained, letting the bottle and glasses he held in his hands fall hard on the table. 

“What is it?” Hernando asked, sitting by Wolfgang’s side. The blond just shrugged, leaving his hands over his lap, strategically covering up his enthusiasm for Kala’s outfit. 

“ _Se hace pendejo_.” Lito told Hernando and then pointed an accusatory finger at Wolfgang, “I taught you how to dance salsa when you were guarding my body. Why aren’t you teaching Kala?” 

“You can dance?!” Dany yelled excited as she pushed Kala into his arms. “Let’s see!” 

Kala grabbed Wolfgang’s black shirt (courtesy of Lito) to avoid a fall caused by the huge red heels (courtesy of Dany, too) and smiled nervously at him. “I thought you only liked electronic music…” 

“I love all kinds of music.” It was true. Then, a quick memory crossed his mind: he was a child, listening to his mother singing while she cooked dinner. It didn’t last. He didn’t think of his mother that often, so he took Kala’s hand and dragged her to the dance floor to avoid more flashbacks. 

“ _¡Eso Benito!_ ” Lito yelled and then he whistled. 

Wolfgang rolled his eyes and then helped Kala get in position. He put her left hand on his shoulder and then put his hand on the middle of her back. Or was it higher? Then he took her right hand with his left and leaned into her to make himself heard over the music. “You go back and I go forward!” 

“What?” She asked, turning her face and their noses bumped. He could feel her breath on his lips. 

“You go back and I go forward.” He repeated, knowing well that he was smiling like an idiot and seeing her blush didn’t help him at all to pretend being this close didn’t affect him. “Right foot!” 

They started moving slowly. Kala tripped a few times, clearly because of her nerves combined with the red heels, but it all went smoothly once she got a grip of the rhythm. Wolfgang waited until the second song to make her spin (it was considerable easier this time, in comparison to his dancing lessons all those years back because Kala wasn’t as tall as Lito) and Kala was so surprised she stumbled into Wolfgang’s arms. 

“I got you.” He said and he grinned when he saw her laughing. 

“This is amazing!” She yelled and then pointed behind Wolfgang. He turned without letting go of her and got to see Lito spinning Dany in his arms in a really complicated way that hadn’t made it into their lessons. Hernando howled and clapped from their table while drinking shots. “Thanks for agreeing to come here…” 

“It’s my pleasure,” said Wolfgang, putting his hands around her waist and moving around lazily, not wanting to follow the accelerated rhythm of the band. He wanted to concentrate on the feeling of Kala’s body in his arms. The smell of her perfume. The soft touch of her hands around his neck. 

He wanted to enjoy everything about her while he could. 

“You do this with all your clients?”

“Dancing? No, just you and Lito!” 

Kala laughed, “I mean like… take them on tours, and dance clubs…” she stopped there but Wolfgang knew what else was in her mind. 

_Sleeping in the same bed..._

“No, I don’t do that with everyone.” 

Kala nodded and bit her lower lip. Wolfgang knew that meant a new question was about to come out of her seductive mouth. The red lipstick wasn’t helping him focus either. 

“Then why are you doing it now?” 

He smiled, feeling a little hopeless. That was a question with a pretty simple answer, but saying it out loud was actually a complicated feat. “Because it’s fun.” He said instead. It wasn’t exactly a lie. It was the safe half of a truth he knew he couldn’t confess completely, although there was nothing he wanted more in that moment. 

“If I recall correctly, you said boring was better for the job.” Kala said, completely serious. What was she after? 

Wolfgang sighed. “Not for this one.” 

“Why?” 

What would she do if he was honest with her? 

“Because I don’t like seeing you sad,” he held tighter to her waist. “You are happier when you are outside or with people….” he stopped suddenly to measure his next words. “It’s the least I can do for you now.” 

Kala blinked and he got a glimpse of that fire shining in her eyes, “Wolfgang, you saved my life.” Her hands came down to his shoulders and she shook him a little. 

They stopped dancing. 

“Barely,” he whispered, lowering his gaze as the guilt he felt drowned his voice. 

“You are doing a good job.” Kala insisted and he looked at her when he felt her hands on his face. They were so close. He could feel her breath over his lips again, but she was too wrapped into cheering him up that she didn’t realized it yet. 

“Doing a good job means taking you back to India,” he started to say, deciding that it was now or never, “maybe I don’t want to be a good bodyguard.” 

“I don’t understand…” Kala looked confused and he felt a rush of panic. He didn’t want her to go away, so he swallowed the last of his doubts before continuing. 

“I want you Kala.” He confessed finally. It wasn’t a secret exactly. He was sure his actions had been clear enough, if she had payed attention. “I think I wanted you from the moment I first saw you... in that hotel room,” he smiled at the memory. She was fierce and sweet, and caring, and passionate… He let one of his hands travel up to her red cheek, caressing her skin with his thumb. He remembered all those times she blushed with just one look from him. He knew he made her nervous and she had already told him that she felt safer with him. “Somehow I know that you want me too.” 

Kala’s brow furrowed and she was speechless. For a moment she closed her eyes and leaned into Wolfgang’s touch. Her hands went back to his neck and he felt electricity running down his body. 

“I want you too…” Kala said and her voice was almost too low for him to listen with the loud music. A broad smile appeared in his lips as he dipped his head, leaning into Kala. Then she decided to continue. “But I’m married to Rajan.”

Wolfgang didn’t understand at first. He thought that he had misheard her words, but then Kala took a step back, taking all the warmth with her. She crossed her arms and looked up at Wolfgang with a mortified expression. “And even If I don’t love him I have a responsibility… I’m sorry.” 

She turned around and left the dance floor as fast as she could. Wolfgang wasn’t still sure what the hell had just happened. The only thing he was certain of was the void in his chest. Kala disappeared in the crowd of dancing couples and he felt that he couldn’t breath. He stood there, paralyzed in confusion, until a voice raised above the music. 

“Go after her!” 

Wolfgang thought it had been Hernando, but he didn’t turn around to confirm it; he just obeyed. 


	25. The first one

_I want you._

_I want you._

_I want you._

_I know you want me too._

She did. 

Kala had grown so used to Wolfgang’s presence that she was starting to wonder how would her life be once she got back home. 

He was… such a mystery. She knew almost nothing about him, except his job… and that he hummed classical music when he took showers. And he liked to caress her hair when he thought that she was still sleeping, but she only pretended to be and then he wouldn’t stop. He cared for her feelings and not just about getting her back to India in once piece and to cash the money. 

And he wanted her so much he didn’t want to get her back home at all. And she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to go back now. 

“This is wrong…” she murmured, leaning on the sink and keeping her eyes down to avoid her reflection on the bathroom mirror. She couldn’t look at herself. She was a married woman and she was thinking about adultery. 

_Do you love him?_

She didn’t, but she had made a promise. There were ways of getting what she wanted and it didn’t have to involve cheating on Rajan. 

She would leave him. She would get a divorce after all this mess was over. That decision was made. The only thing she wondered was if Wolfgang wanted her enough to wait...

She finally raised her eyes and they went wide when she saw Wolfgang’s reflection behind her. 

“Do you have feelings for me or not?” 

She wiped her eyes, trying not to ruin her makeup and turned around slowly to face him. His expression was neutral. The confidence had vanished from his blue eyes but Kala had spent a lot of time staring at them…  they seemed desperate. 

“I think I do.” She said softly, knowing that it wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear, but she wanted to be honest. 

“Then fuck responsibility.” 

Wolfgang crossed the space between them in a couple of steps and took her in his arms before guilt could get in the way. Although his hands were firm on the back of her head, his kiss was gentle. It was like he still expected her to reject him, but the soft sound of her moaning and the touch of her hands climbing his chest towards his shoulders gave him all the encouragement he needed. Kala’s lips moved along with his, responding to his hunger with her own craving of his taste and she lost her breath when she felt his tongue demanding more attention from her. She dug her nails on the back of his neck and he thought about all those times he had felt the pull of her body… it was like gravity, and it felt so good to finally give in. 

Kala broke the kiss when she heard someone opening the door, but Wolfgang rushed her into an empty stall before she could get away from him and he put his finger on her lips to keep her quiet while he carefully closed the door. 

Several women entered the bathroom and they were laughing and chatting, unaware of their presence. 

“This is wrong.” Kala whispered. Wolfgang seemed confused at first, but then he clenched his jaw and looked at her intensely. She knew she wasn’t making any sense. First she said she wanted him and then she mentioned Rajan. After that she kissed him back and later she said that it was wrong, but at the same time she couldn’t let go of his shirt because she didn’t know what would happen to her if for some reason they were pulled apart. 

When had she become such a mess? 

“It doesn’t feel wrong to me. To be honest, I haven’t feel this good in a long time.” He whispered with a deep voice, resting his forehead against hers. “You are amazing Kala. And you deserve to be happy.” 

The voices of the women outside faded as they went back to the dance floor. 

“Happy… with you?” She asked, feeling helpless. Her eyes kept on going to his lips, so she missed his complete reaction to her question, but some seconds passed before he answered. 

“Not necessarily…” he held her face in his hands and gave her one last gentle kiss “I’ll see you outside.” 

He left and after a few seconds, Kala touched her lips. She closed her eyes thinking about it… their first kiss. 

The idea of having more opportunities to kiss Wolfgang produced a delightful smile on her face… and then it vanished, because wanting to kiss Wolfgang again also made her feel guilty.


	26. Distance

Next morning, when Wolfgang woke up, he found Kala’s big brown eyes staring at him. He smiled and lifted his left hand, already eager to touch her, but then she decided to speak.

“I can’t do this.” She said with a choked voice. Wolfgang’s hand froze mid-air and his smile faded slowly as he saw her blink.

He thought he saw a tear fall from her eyes but then Kala left the bed and locked herself  in the bathroom. 

Wolfgang rolled to his back, eyes fixed on the ceiling while listening to the sound of water. The shower at his right and the waves of the ocean at his left.

There was a voice saying something in the back of his head. He didn’t like what it was saying, but deep down he knew it was right. 

She deserved someone good to make her happy. Maybe it was better this way.


	27. Misery

That day the sun was bright and the sky was blue. It was the bluest Wolfgang had seen in a while. What a shame.

Nothing, not even the most perfect weather could make him feel anything.

Or, well, he did felt hopeless. He had learned from an early age that life was unfair and the world was cruel, but he had always found a way around things. Or through them. Normally there were guns involved, but this time he couldn’t throw bullets at his problem until it was fixed. And probably thinking that way was the reason why he shouldn’t have what he wanted anyway. 

“Did you get in a fight?” Dany asked, picking up some blue sunglasses and pretending to look at them, just as Wolfgang had done for the last five minutes while Kala was busy in the fitting room. 

He had made good on his promise of taking her shopping. He finished quickly with his clothes: black underwear, black shirts and black pants. Maybe black sunglasses… 

“Not exactly…” he said finally, putting on a pair and looking at the mirror on the side, and then Lito’s reflection appeared behind him. 

“Be honest. What did you do?”

“Nothing.” He replied, making sure to keep his cool demeanor, and he was glad that the shades were hiding his eyes. 

“We totally understand if you want to continue your trip without us.” Hernando added and Wolfgang watched Dany and Lito turning slowly to him, their eyebrows raised. “Maybe they need some time alone.” The man intensely whispered his explanation but Wolfgang heard him loud and clear and he chuckled, aware that he sounded completely miserable. 

Time alone was the last thing they needed.

“It’s not that.” He said simply and suddenly he felt thankful that he ran into Lito at the airport. They would be a good distraction with their dinners and parties until whoever was behind the threat on Kala’s life was dealt with. And if his bosses were right, it would happen real fucking soon. 

At least he got to kiss her once...

“You should talk to her.” Lito continued, taking a pair of pink sunglasses and trying them on. They looked good on him, obviously.  

Wolfgang sighed. He didn’t thought there could be any words to persuade Kala to give him a chance… she had been clear on her rejection and he should respect her decision. “I think we’ve said enough…” 

It was weird that he had forgotten about Capheus word’s until then, but his friend had warned him to be careful and not to get attached to a client. 

_“I don’t want you to end up like me… or Will…”_

And Wolfgang had assured him there was nothing to worry about; that this was just like any other job. 

The sound of the curtain sliding made them all turn to Kala.

“What do you think?” 

She was wearing a yellow dress and looking at herself in a mirror. The skirt was long, starting almost at the collar and ending just above her knees. Her black hair was in a long braid that Dany had helped her with before leaving Lito’s house. It was completely different from her look at the party last night, but she was beautiful nonetheless. The misery he felt vanished and he wanted to walk to her and kiss her again. He wanted to convince her that they could… what? be together?

He turned around and left to another section of the store, hoping the idiotic optimism and the ache in his chest would vanish once she was out of sight.

Wolfgang didn’t see Kala’s sad eyes following him on the mirror. He didn’t hear Dany’s compliments as she got closer to the girl, trying to lighten up the mood. And he didn’t got to witness Lito and Hernando’s knowing glances between them. 

The blond didn’t realize his short absence would give them enough time to come up with a plan. 


	28. Haunted

Kala went out to the balcony after finishing her bags; she wanted to be ready in case they got the call. 

She tried to picture how it would be like to go back home. It had been a little bit over a week but it felt like it was another life ago. A few days before she still thought she would spend the rest of her life with Rajan and now… 

Now the softness of Wolfgang’s lips haunted her. The way he’d touched her and his confession… it opened new paths for her that she had never considered possible… 

But there were right ways of doing things, and wrongs ways. She wanted to do things right.

She would go back home and would end things with Rajan and then she could… 

“Kala!” Dany yelled, opening the door without knocking. 

“I’m here…” she called, wiping a rogue tear off her cheek before turning around. 

“Come on! The movie’s about to start!” 

Dany reached out to grab her hand and drag her out the bedroom, ignoring Kala’s confused expression. “What movie?” 


	29. The plan

Dany let go of Kala’s hand when they reached the living room. There was a gigantic screen set in front of a coffee table full of snacks and alcohol. The girl jumped to the biggest sofa and Kala saw that Wolfgang was sitting alone on a smaller one. The blond didn’t react to her arrival. His eyes were fixed on the beer he was holding and Kala tried to ignore the painful sting she felt in her chest as she got closer.

The scene on the biggest couch managed to distract her a little bit. Lito, Hernando and Dany were all tangled together, ready to watch whatever film they had chosen. It looked weirdly comfortable and it made Kala smile as she went to sit by Wolfgang’s side. 

The fact that she had rejected his advances didn’t mean that she disliked his company and she hoped that he could see that if she tried to act normal enough. 

“What are we watching?” She asked, reaching out to get a bowl full of popcorn. 

“The bodyguard.” Lito answered with a grin on his face.

Kala could feel Wolfgang going stiff beside her. 

“I love that movie!” Hernando said, snuggling between Dani and Hernando.

“Did you know that Hernando pretended to be Lito’s bodyguard for one night? It was so hot.”

“He made me feel like Whitney Houston.” Lito said smiling and then leaned to kiss Hernando. Dani clicked the play button on the remote and the opening credits started to appear on the screen. 

Kala felt Wolfgang’s arm sliding over her shoulders and his lips were near her ear, “Have you seen it before?” 

She shook her head, “Never from start to finish.” 

“If you feel uncomfortable, we’ll make up an excuse...” 

She wanted to ask what he meant, but then the sound of several gunshots made her jump. She turned and saw the main character holding a gun and she understood. 

He rubbed his hand up and down her arm and she lay against him, trying not to think about London, but once she got into the story she didn’t feel scared anymore. 

It was actually quite entertaining and she found herself comparing Wolfgang to Frank several times: the seriousness and constant vigilance were the main traits keeping her hyper aware of the man by her side. 

It made her relive their time at the safe house, their night conversations and the dance club last night…  

Her mind was a mess once again and thanks to that she didn’t notice the not-so-discreet glances the trio on the couch threw at their direction, but Wolfgang did and he knew what they were trying to do. 

A tiny, softer part of him was thankful for their obviously good intentions at trying to fix his problem with Kala, but another part of him didn’t want anyone or anything to influence her decision. Wolfgang didn’t want to pressure Kala to change her mind… well, fuck it, he did want to, but he was trying really hard not to be pushy and to respect her and it wasn’t easy with her sitting by his side with her fingers crawling down his lap, obviously trying hold his hand. 

He started to caress her fingers with his thumb when the movie was reaching the end because, apparently, he wasn’t as strong as he had thought. 

He felt like he had gotten to know his client pretty well during this week together, and he knew this movie would make her think of her dilemma. So it wasn’t a complete surprise when she turned around to say, “We need to talk.” Once the ending credits started to roll. 

She said it like an order and when he didn’t move, unsure that this talk could be beneficial for any of them, she grabbed his hand and practically dragged him outside the house, leaving Hernando, Lito and Dany sharing triumphant smiles and high fives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, i feel like i gotta say that this fic is 5% inspired on a hitman's bodyguard, 15% on the bodyguard and 80% on that gustavo cordera song (the title). 
> 
> Also, if anyone's interestad, i made some moodboards for my fic up to this point to keep me motivated, and imma share them with you: https://tmblr.co/ZNSFRx2YNLkD4 
> 
> As always, thanks for the comments and keep your eyes open cuz the updates are gonna keep coming! 
> 
> Love to y'all !


	30. The beach

Wolfgang knew Kala wasn’t thinking straight when she dragged him to the beach instead of their room. Not that he was going to complain. They had not spent time on the beach yet and that was something Wolfgang really wanted to do since the moment Lito invited them here. He took a deep breath of fresh air when Kala stopped walking and listened attentively to the sound of the waves while he waited for her to say something that would probably destroy his spirit. Again, just like she had done that morning. 

“Are you still mad at me?” 

He sighed, opening his eyes. “I was never mad at you.” 

“Then what is it?” Kala crossed her arms, looking at him.

“I’m angry at myself, okay?” He put his hands in the pockets of his pants to keep them from doing some crazy shit like trying to hold her and pull her closer. It was difficult to try to keep his distance with her standing on the sand, hair and dress flying with the wind and that stubborn expression on her beautiful face. 

But then her features softened, “What I said this morning…” 

“It’s okay,” he interrupted. He didn’t need to relive that moment, “You made the right choice.” 

She bit her lip while thinking and he had to look away. Maybe she was doing it on purpose? “I just need time to… properly leave Rajan and then…” 

“Then what?” His heart started beating faster, but he held tight to the idea that it meant nothing, “I’m still a bodyguard Kala, my job is dangerous,” he took a step closer to make sure she was paying attention, “It could be risky for you too… It was stupid to think that we could be...” 

“We could…” 

“But we shouldn’t.” _Shut up_ , said a voice in his head and it sounded an awful lot like an outraged Felix and he wanted to obey it. Maybe if he stopped talking he could pretend a little bit longer… but if he really cared for her he had to think not only about the danger her husband brought to her life, but also about other dangerous things… like himself. “You don’t know me…” 

Kala stared at him in silence for a few seconds and after a short evaluation she nodded. “That is true.” She said and his heart sunk. _Well done_ , the voice in his head said before she continued talking. “But I’d like to know more about you, if you let me.” Now it was his turn to be speechless. _This is wrong_ , his mind alerted him as she crossed the distance between them. He knew it now that he had taken the time to reflect: he wasn’t good enough for her. “You said you wanted me… but I know it’s much more than that.” She pulled his hand out of his pocket to hold it and he felt her tremble, “I know it because I feel it too.” 

“You deserve better...” Wolfgang said, feeling his heart come back to life with her words echoing over and over again in his head. 

“There is no one better.” She said, her voice full of confidence and it was contagious. He smiled and leaned to kiss her, and then stopped when she put her hand over his chest, “But I want to do things right.” 

First, Wolfgang’s blue eyes narrowed and then they softened in understanding and he felt Kala relax. “So now I have to take you back to India for you to leave your husband and _then_ I can kiss you… that ain’t fair…” 

He could see in her face the moment she realized he was teasing her. She smiled while biting her lip, “Well… you know that saying in English, right? ‘Good things happen to… patient people’ or... something like that…” 

He laughed and let his forehead lay against hers, “Yeah… something like that,” relief washed through his body and even though he knew he shouldn’t push his luck he decided to try one more time. “So… not even one kiss?” 

Kala looked up at him but her eyes betrayed her and they dropped to his lips for just one second. Then she tried hard to suppress a smile while her cheeks turned red, but she caved almost instantly. “Just one.” 

Wolfgang’s grin turned devilish and what started as a series of simple pecks delivered with closed up lips turned slowly into a kiss that resembled more their first one in that bathroom. At first he was scared Kala would break it off but he almost moaned with delight when he felt her fingers going through his hair, but he managed to contain the sound. He tried to keep at least a little bit of his consciousness present so he wouldn’t cross the invisible line Kala had drawn for whatever it was she considered too much, but when she bit his lip he decided that one: she was enjoying herself too much and he totally loved it. And two: he needed to do something before he dragged her back inside their bedroom. So instead of putting in doubt if she really wanted to leave all they could do now for later, he lifted her up in his arms, causing her to yell in an adorable way while she held to his shoulders with all her strength, afraid of falling.

“What are you doing?!” 

“I think we need cold water.” He said, going against every muscle in his body and starting to walk towards the ocean. 

“Wait… no! Wolfgang, put me down!” 

“I will, don’t worry.” 


	31. Logistics

The skirt of her dress and his pants were soaking wet. Kala couldn’t remember the last time she played around water like that and having so much fun in such a simple way with Wolfgang made her realize that she had spent most of her life doing things she was supposed to do instead of things that made her happy. There was her college degree for starters. She didn’t regret that one because she enjoyed the process of gaining knowledge that she could apply in real life to help people, but that had been a long time of hard work without much laughs. 

The same could be said about her marriage with Rajan and Kala started to wonder how many more things of that invisible list she would have crossed with time if Wolfgang hand not appeared in her life. 

But she didn’t say any of this out loud. Instead she admired the pretty colors of the sunset in the sky, lying against Wolfgang. They were sitting on the sand, his legs at each side of her. His hands were digging in the search of seashells while she asked questions, trying to get to know him better. 

“Favorite drink?”

“Beer,” he whispered in her ear.

“Favorite food?” 

“Beer.” He said again without missing a beat and Kala playfully slapped one of his knees, “I like everything actually. I’m not picky… you?” 

“Mmmh… I would say hot chocolate,” she started to count with her fingers even though she new the list was short, “ and _shahi tukda_.” 

“And that is…”

“It’s a dessert and my dad makes the best… you’ll try it someday.” 

She wasn’t sure how, but she knew Wolfgang’s smile was vanishing slowly even without looking. Maybe it was his body tensing or the way one of his hands went around her belly to pull her closer. “Is your family… too attached to Rajan?”

She grimaced and she was glad that he couldn’t see her face. “You could say that…” 

He took a few seconds before going on with his next question, “Are you worried about how they will react… if you leave him?” 

 _If_. She was a little upset at hearing that… _if_. But she couldn’t blame him to be unsure about what was going to happen… she wasn’t sure either about how she was going to do it, but she wanted to make it clear that regardless of what was about to come, she had made up her mind. 

“ _When_ I ask for the divorce? Oh, bad… It will be a big drama.” She tried to sound nonchalant about it even though the mere idea of telling her dad, the most understanding member of her family, made her feel sick with panic. Her life would be certainly turned upside down, but wasn’t that better than the alternative? “I cannot live like that anymore…” 

She felt him relax again. His free hand came up to her lap and he placed a few colorful seashells over her dress, “I’ll help you get through it.” 

“But you live in Berlin, right?” She took the seashells in her hand so they wouldn’t fall as she turned over the sand to face him. She had not taken the time to consider the logistics of their situation yet, “Are we going to be in a long-distance relationship?” 

“Nah, I don’t like that… I’ll just move to India.” He said casually and she could see a little smirk forming at the edges of his lips when he saw her jaw dropping in surprise. 

“You would move to Mumbai?” She asked, but it was hard to believe. Still, her heart started beating faster with excitement. 

“Yeah, why not?” 

Kala blinked in confusion a few times, trying to process the information. “So, you don’t have any family then?” 

“I live with my brother. He’ll be happy to be somewhere sunny…” 

“Just like that?” 

“Just like that.” 

“Do you think he’ll like me?” 

“Who?” 

“Your brother.” 

Wolfgang’s smile turned sweet as he observed her. She admired his blue eyes feeling mesmerized by them and wondered if this was too good to be true. The way they had found each other wasn’t ideal in the least, but maybe something good could come out such a horrible situation.

Then something mischievous took over his smile as he answered. “Actually I’m going to ask you to be a little mean to Felix. Otherwise I feel he’ll like you too much.” 

 


	32. Pressure

The lights of the house were on when they went back in. They found Lito, Hernando and Dany sitting in front of the TV but the scene was completely different from before. Instead of popcorn and margaritas, there were bottles of beer and instead of cuddling and laughter, there was an air of misery as they stared at the screen. 

“What’s going on?” Kala asked as she and Wolfgang got closer. 

“It seems like there was some kind of terrorist attack in India…” Dani started to explain with her horrified eyes fixed on the images. 

“Do you have family in Mumbai?” Hernando asked, turning around to face them and Wolfgang’s heart didn’t have time to sink as the phone in his pocket started to ring. He took a step behind to answer it and he let Kala slip from his grip to join the others in front of the T.V. He watched her fall slowly on the sofa and he tapped on the screen to accept the call. 

_Fuck, fuck, fuck._

Kala’s hands went to cover her mouth and he tried to ignore the voices coming from the T.V to better listen to what Nomi was explaining in a low but frantic whisper. 

“... explosions as a way of distraction but one of the buildings was the Dandekar’s family restaurant.”

“Was there anyone hurt?” He asked in German, making a big effort not to throw the phone away to get by Kala’s side. He had to stay calm if he wanted to do his job properly. 

“Mr. Dandekar and G are in the hospital… Bathia Hospital, to be exact.” Nomi paused and he thought he heard her breathing hard. He knew that for her they weren’t just a bunch of employees… that they had been through a lot of shit together and in some weird and unprofessional way, she and Amanita considered everyone in the agency as family. And so did he… that was why he couldn’t bring himself to ask the questions he wanted to, but Nomi got a hold of herself way faster than him. “They were just arriving to the building when it happened and we are still waiting for the doctors to tell us their condition…” 

“ _Scheiße..._ ” Wolfgang rubbed his forehead with his trembling fingers, trying not to imagine the state Will would be in. 

And Kala’s father… 

“You need to stay put. This is an obvious provocation because Rajan is under the eye of at least three international agencies and they can’t reach him. And if they are resorting to this it means they don’t have any idea of where you are.” 

“Wolfgang…” He heard Kala’s weak voice calling for him and he took a deep breath before walking decisively towards the kitchen. 

“Got it.” He said and he ended the call without anything else.

He let his phone fall over the table and then he lay against it too. Hundreds of thoughts crossed his head in just a few seconds. Furious questions that met angry answers with different scenarios running through his mind. 

This was hardly the first time one of them got hurt. He had been fucking shot while protecting Lito, but this time it was different. These guys produced a fury inside of him that he had not felt in such a long time… 

“Are they alright?” 

He didn’t turn. He had not yet decided what he was going to tell Kala. He could lie… tell her that he was upset over Will and omit all the information about her father. They would stay in Mexico, thousands of miles away, where she would be safe. 

That was the normal procedure for any client. But Kala wasn’t like any other client… not anymore. 

“Your father and his bodyguard are in the hospital…” He turned slowly but he still got to see the tears falling down her face. He didn’t think twice before crossing the space between them to hold her. He felt her heavy breathing against his chest and wished bitterly that he could lie to her… but then again, he knew that wasn’t possible anymore. 

There were other ways to fix all of this. 

“We have to go back…” said Kala, as if she was reading his mind, but they couldn’t. “I have to go, we have to…” 

“No, Kala.” He took a step back to grab her shoulders and he looked her in the eye, “We can’t. That is exactly what they want.” 

“I don’t care!” She cried and the way her face contorted from the pain made the urge from revenge grow stronger in his chest. 

“But I do.” He said, trying to speak as gentle as he could to calm her down. He used his thumb to catch the tears falling over her cheek. “My job is to keep you safe.” 

“And my job is to be there for my family.” 

“Kala…” 

“What if it was your father?” She asked desperately, grabbing him by his shirt to shake him, “Or your brother? What would you do?” 

Wolfgang couldn’t answer. All he could think of was that she didn’t know. That’s why she asked such a ridiculous question… and he didn’t know if he should tell her… or even if he could. 

He closed his eyes and felt Kala’s fingers digging through his shirt with insistence. He took a deep breath to push away every thought about his father and focused on Felix instead. He would go, without a doubt, to the ends of the world if his brother needed him to. 

Then he thought about the woman in front of him and how in just a few days she had reached the same level of importance in his life… and deep down he was scared because of all the things he was ready to do for her. 

“Going there is a mistake.” He insisted, running out of excuses. He was going to lose this argument because he wanted to go back too. He wanted to personally chase and punish the person that had hurt his friend and he wanted to kill everyone responsible for targeting Kala. But a more reasonable part of him knew he should try. 

“Believing they would be safe while we were hiding was the mistake.”She said with a resolute voice. “I am going with or without you.” 

_You could force her._

He considered the idea. She would hate him but she would be safe. It was the right thing to do. But then he recognized the fire in Kala’s eyes, the same that had mesmerized him the first time he saw her, shouting at everyone for daring to make decisions for her… and he knew he couldn’t. 

 _I am in so much trouble_ , Wolfgang thought as he leaned to kiss her gently on the forehead, but he didn’t feel any regret. He held her close again and her body remained stiff until she heard his whisper against her ear. “Okay.” 


	33. The way back

During the flight to Mexico Kala had felt exhausted and she had slept through most of it but now she was unable to turn her brain off. Her emotions changed along with her thoughts. Every minute she wondered about her father and his health. Was he hurt? Was he conscious? Will he still be alive when she got there? And her mother and sister? She prayed for everyone’s safety. Every hour or so she would close her eyes and beg for all this to stop. She fidgeted restlessly with one of the seashells Wolfgang had found on the beach. 

She felt scared but she had realized the moment Wolfgang had agreed to come with her that she wasn’t afraid for her own life. When she said that she would go back with or without him, she meant it. She was angry at everyone and herself and wanted to go back and fight them and win, but the moment he said yes, she remembered him wounded at the back of that car in London and that’s when fear took over. 

“Hey.” 

Kala opened her eyes at the sound of Wolfgang’s soft voice. The grip of his hand tightened and she stopped moving the seashell between her fingers. Her hand relaxed and she gave him an apologetic look while he turned around to get closer to her and smiled. 

 “When this is over we should go back to Mexico.” He said, playing with the pink seashell over her palm. 

She got confused for a second but then her lips formed a tiny smile; he was just trying to distract her.

“We should bring presents for everyone…” she added, allowing her mind to worry about trivial things, like good manners, or that specific moment when she didn’t show them. “It was kind of rude, the way we left…”

She felt a pang of guilt at the image of Lito, Hernando and Dani, hurrying to help them with their bags to get to the airport as fast as they could.

Wolfgang must have sensed that she was drifting away again, because he used his free hand to put one rogue lock of curly black hair behind her ear in the most thoughtful way. His fingers followed the line of her jaw and for a peaceful moment her heart ached, but for a whole different and wonderful reason. 

“Don’t worry. They understand.” He said and she felt thankful. Then, a second later, she felt crazy for thinking like that. But how couldn’t she with all that had happened in the last week? It was things like this, people like him, that made her believe in miracles. 

Her eyes opened wide suddenly, “You never got to swim in the ocean!” The way he had been looking at her brought back the memory of Wolfgang looking at the ocean from the balcony, but he never got the chance to get in. 

“Another reason to go back.” He said with a wicked smile. If there was any regret, he didn’t show it. But then his eyebrows came together and he murmured. “And I forgot to buy you a new hoodie…” 

Of course he had. He had been brooding when they went shopping and she knew she was responsible for that, so she just rolled her eyes playfully, enjoying the feeling of peace that came with the small talk. 

“You still have time.” 

“Yeah…” 

His blue eyes eyes were as intense as always and just before it was too much for her to stand they dropped to their joined hands. She bit her lip because she wanted to kiss him, but she had also told him that she wanted to take things slow… 

Was that really true? Would they have time after all this? 

“This is a stupid idea, right?” Kala asked, feeling the anger and frustration again. Wolfgang sighed and shrugged.

“Maybe… It’s definitely dangerous.”

“But you want to go too…” she said, staring at him to measure his reaction. He had tried to convince her to stay way and he could have forced her but they were together in a plane, ready to do something really stupid… and for what? 

“They are threatening your life and they hurt my friend,” he said with a cold voice that she had never heard before. The muscles of his hand tensed without hurting her and she remembered what he had said on the beach, that she didn’t really know him. “I want revenge.” 


	34. The taxi

Even with a hundred things going through his head, Wolfgang had the time and energy to admire Kala’s transformation the moment they stepped off the plane. She took charge of every interaction and he was glad because he didn’t speak Hindi, but also because that gave him the freedom to be more vigilant as they ventured into the streets to find a cab that would get them to the hospital. 

He knew they would be safe until they reached it because nobody knew they were back. Once the news were out, well… he was expecting his job to get a lot more complicated. And maybe impossible to maintain, even. Nomi was going to kick his ass real hard for this one. 

Wolfgang started to piece together his defense when the street outside his window got his attention. Kala scoot over to get a better view and then she went completely still at the sight of the debris left by a destroyed building. It must have been one of the last bomb attacks. There were pieces of concrete and metal bars mixed with destroyed furniture here and there. It was all surrounded by a group of workers that were starting the clean up and policemen that tried to keep the people from gathering around and disrupting the already complicated traffic. 

Kala covered her mouth with one hand and Wolfgang was quick to grab the other one.

“Is going to be alright. We haven’t received any messages yet…” 

“I know…” she said in a whimper that he could barely listen, even when he was by her side. He pulled her closer and held her for the rest of the ride, whispering kind words to comfort her but he knew the only thing that would make her feel better would be seeing her dad sound and safe. 

And then, when they were just a few blocks from the hospital, he realized that once they got in there, this thing they had would be over. He wouldn’t be able to hold her in his arms like this, or take her hand because there wouldn’t be any reason to pretend they were a couple anymore.

The cover was done. 

Wolfgang knew that it was a shitty thing to think like that; there were more important matters to worry about… but he also realized that the pressure he was feeling in his chest was tied to the current situation. He wanted to be there for Kala in every possible way, and he knew it would be difficult to pretend that she was just a client.

But he would do it, if that was what she needed from him. 

Wolfgang wouldn’t make it harder than it already was; he wouldn’t cause any drama. With this in mind, he pressed his lips to her forehead for a instant, right as the taxi pulled over, and then he let go so she could straighten up. She wiped the tears from her face and he saw her transformation one more time. Her eyes were red but her jaw was set. 

“Let’s go,” she breathed and Wolfgang nodded. 


	35. The reunion

They crossed the hospital doors together and Kala felt a shiver with the change of temperature. They left behind the warmth of the sunshine outside and now they were welcomed by the cool air conditioning. Every part of her trembled, except for her hand, which was still holding Wolfgang’s.  

She took a deep breath, trying to remain calm and to be strong, but it was really hard. She recognized one of Rajan’s security agents standing by the elevator doors but a voice made them both turn to their left before they could reach him. 

“Kala?” 

It was her mother, standing at the end of the hall followed by her confused sister and a tall, dark man wearing a black suit: agent O.  

Kala smiled on reflex as her mother rushed to her. She would have run to her but she felt Wolfgang’s fingers slip away from hers and she saw him take a step back. He put his arms behind his back and stood still, looking past her, as if he were a normal bodyguard, giving her space. She knew things had to be like this because simply, it wasn’t the right time for drama, and Kala leaving her husband for her bodyguard would definitely cause a lot of it. Still, even though being discrete and patient had been her idea, she felt her heart break a little.

The only thing he did to acknowledge her stare was to give a tiny nod and then her mother’s arms were around her.

“ _Meree Betee_!” 

Her mother’s words pulled her out of her thoughts and Kala hugged her back, allowing the familiar smell of her perfume to console her a little bit. Her backpack fell to the floor when her sister joined them and she felt like crying, but she managed to contain the tears. 

Agent O walked slowly behind them and mouthed a “Hello” to Kala. She contorted her mouth into something between a grimace and a smile and then the storm of questions began.

“How are you?!” 

“What are you doing here?!” 

“Where were you?!” 

“Does Rajan know you are back?!” 

Her mother and sister took each of her arms and tugged her while interrogating her in Hindi at what seemed to be the speed of light. She let them get everything out before deciding to interrupt them: 

“Where is dad? How is he?” 

Her mother started to blink, fighting the tears but she was smiling, and so was her sister and in that moment Kala felt the terrible dark weight being lifted from her shoulders. 

“He woke up this morning,” Daya explained. “The doctors took him upstairs to run some tests.” 

“He’ll be glad to see you.” Her mom added, sniffing a little. Kala thought that both of them must have been terribly scared, but everything was good now. 

“Who are you?” Daya asked, leaning a little to her right to look behind Kala. She got out of the way and cleared her throat, trying to find a way to introduce him without sounding awkward, but then someone beat her to it. 

“Agent B,” Nomi Marks was standing in front of the entrance of the hospital, hands on her hips and lips forming in a thin line while taking a good look at each one of them. “Can I have a word with you?” 

 


	36. The new strategy

Wolfgang handed both his backpack and Kala’s to Capheus before he let himself be dragged outside of the building. He had not noticed before because he had been too focused on Kala, but now that he had spent a few minutes in that cool hospital lobby the change to the hot weather of Mumbai hit him hard and he was almost going to suggest to get back inside for their talk, but one look at Nomi’s angry eyes shut him up. 

“What the fuck, Wolfgang?!” Nomi asked, extending her arms. “What the fuck are you doing here?” 

“Ka... Mrs. Rasal wanted to come back.” He said simply, knowing perfectly well that it wasn’t a good excuse. It was actually the worst of them, and Nomi thought the same. 

“Mrs. Rasal is, without a doubt, in a delicate emotional state and therefore _you,_ ” she pointed furiously at his face and then turned around to start pacing, “ _you_ were supposed to be the logical and responsible one!” 

“And you were supposed finish this shit days ago!” 

That made her halt and he regretted his words instantly. 

“We’re trying, okay? We are not the only agency working on this case and these guys have a lot of resources and are well organized...” 

“I know...” he said, closing his eyes as he turned his face up to the sky. “ Maybe this will speed things up.” 

“Are you… are you suggesting… we use her as bait?” Nomi whispered fast, pointing violently between them. 

“It was her idea.” 

“Un-fucking-believable!” 

Wolfgang passed a hand through his hair. He understood her frustration because he had felt exactly the same way when Kala came up with the idea on the plane, but he honestly thought that luring them out could be, with luck, the fastest way to finish this once and for all. “I know it’s risky…” he said, not caring too much if Nomi stopped to listen to him, because he was actually trying to convince himself, “but I’ll keep her safe.” 

He meant it. Nomi let her arms fall to her sides and sighed. She observed him him, trying to understand and then closed her eyes, finally showing how tired she was with all of this, “This isn’t like catching a bullet, okay? You cannot catch a fucking bomb…” 

Her lips trembled then and she took her glasses off to rub her eyes. Wolfgang crossed the distance between them and put his hand over her shoulder, “How’s G?” he asked, reminding himself that even though he liked to think of her as his boss (because a bitter part of him considered that only Felix qualified as family), for Nomi things were different. She and Amanita had created the agency and hand-picked every person that worked for them. They had given him a job when he thought he was done for and that helped him get control over his life for the first time ever. And it wasn’t like that just for him: he knew for a fact that she considered every agent a brother or a sister, so it didn’t surprise him to see her like this after the latest shit that had happened. 

“He’s awake. He’s a little bit hurt and has some trouble… remembering things but he’ll recover.” 

He nodded and squeezed her shoulder gently. She looked up at the blue sky and blinked a few times. 

“Can I see him?” 

“Yes, of course…” she said, returning the pat on his arm but then she pulled him by the shirt to make him turn. “But this talk isn’t over. This was really stupid, Wolfgang.” 

“I know.” He said, giving her an apologetic look while slowly walking away from her. 

“I’m not kidding. Amanita will lose her shit!” She threatened and he raised a hand in acknowledgment. 

“I know.” He climbed the stairs and stopped at the top when she continued. 

“I don’t know how she convinced you.” He turned around one last time and felt bad at her confusion, because he knew that, eventually, it would only be worse when she knew the truth. “This isn’t like you.” 

He sighed and went back inside the hospital, mumbling to himself, “I know.” 


	37. The secret

Kala was pacing the hallway nervously. Her mother and sister watched from their s seats by the corridor with worry while Agent O stole some glances in her direction from his guarding post near the entrance, but she was too lost in her thoughts to notice. 

Kala knew this would happen. She had asked Wolfgang about it on the plane and he said that it would be alright… she was the client so, technically, he had to do what she ordered. At least, he would try that defense. But what if it didn’t work? He’d said he would think of something, but his boss had looked really angry back there… 

Kala stopped and took a deep breath. She didn’t want Wolfgang to lose his job. This was all her fault. But she couldn’t stay away any longer… she had to do something to help. She would talk to Marks and Caplan. She would explain… what? That they were… together? Or that they were planning to be? And that was why Wolfgang had accepted to help her? That would only make things worse! 

“Hey, dad will be fine.” Daya said, interrupted her mental rant while walking towards her and Kala was grateful for that. 

“I know. I’m sorry I wasn’t here.” She said, hugging her sister.

“Is okay. I bet you are dying to see Rajan.” Daya said while squeezing her hard, causing Kala to lose her breath at the same time she felt a void forming inside her chest. 

“Yes I… I need to talk to him.” She held tightly to her sister because she was afraid for so many reasons. Her father’s health and her mother’s and Daya’s safety. Rajan’s reaction to what she had to say and Wolfgang’s problems with his boss...

“He was worried sick. He almost went to England to get you the day after you left…” 

“Wait… he knew I was in England?” Kala took a step back. 

“Yeah. He told me it was a secret, but I promise I didn’t tell anyone!” 

“I know…” she said and the voices in her head started to rant all over again. 

How could he…? Was that the reason they were found in London? Was Rajan part of…? 

“Mrs. Rasal…” Kala jumped at the sound of Wolfgang’s voice. Both girls turned to see the blond standing in front of the elevators. “I’m going upstairs to see G.” he said and she heard him, but her mind couldn’t process yet what he was talking about. “Your father’s bodyguard.” He added and her eyes went wide. 

“Oh, of course. I’m going with you.” Kala rushed past her sister and walked resolutely towards Wolfgang. 

“You can just stay here with O and wait for your father if you want...” 

“No, I… I want go to with you. I need to thank him.” she said, touching his arm lightly before taking a few steps back to get closer to her mother. The woman was sitting on a chair and her confused eyes went between them as they talked. 

“Mom, I’m going to…” she stopped immediately and felt silly because she was speaking in English. She shook her head, ignoring her sister’s and agent O’s not-so-discreet laughter and continued in Hindi. “I’m going to see dad’s bodyguard. I’ll be right back.” 

“Don’t take long.” Her mother said, taking her hands for a moment and then watched her daughter follow her bodyguard into the elevator.


	38. High

As soon as the doors were closed Kala rushed to hug Wolfgang. 

“How did it go? Was it bad?” She asked, feeling horrible for putting Wolfgang in a difficult position. 

“She didn’t fire me,” the blond murmured and she felt the movement of his chest as he took a deep breath, “but she thinks our plan is shit.” 

“Well, I disagree.” Said Kala while taking a step back, but her hands remained on his arms. She needed to touch him. “I found something already,” Wolfgang’s eyebrows rose, “No one knew that we were in London, right?” 

“I only told O when I asked him to escort us, but he wasn’t working on your case yet …” 

“And that was like, three days after we got there…” 

“Yeah…” his brow furrowed.

“Rajan knew we were in England.” 

Wolfgang’s blue eyes narrowed with suspicion, “How?” 

“I don’t know yet, but I will find out.” 

Neither of them noticed when the elevator stopped and the doors started to open. 

“I don’t like this.” He said with a grave voice and one of his hands cupped her face in a protective way. 

“I know.” Kala said and she held even tighter to his jacket. 

“Okay. So, this is what I’m going to do.” Said a male voice from the hallway and they both turned in confusion to see who was interrupting them. “I’m going to turn around,” the unknown man proceeded to do this before continuing, “And I’m going to pretend that I did not see you having a moment with your client, B.” 

Kala felt her stomach sinking and the shock of being discovered just a few hours after arriving to Mumbai petrified her on the spot, so it was Wolfgang who moved his hands fast enough to stop the metal doors from closing on their faces, and then he pulled Kala by the hand to follow him out of the elevator. 

“This is not what it looks like.” He lied to the other man while their fingers intertwined. Why was he so calm? 

“I don’t know what you are talking about.” The man said, quickly lifting his shoulders in an innocent way and Wolfgang’s lips formed a line to suppress a smile. But it reached his eyes anyway and Kala got to breathe easy again, even if she didn’t understand exactly what was going on. 

“How are you M?” Wolfgang asked finally, lifting his free hand to greet the man.

“I like to think that I’m better than G but he’s resting, high as a kite and I’m here watching the empty hallway so… You wanna see him?” He started walking to his right before any of them could give him an answer. “Lemme guide you to his suite. By the way, nice to meet you, Mrs. Rasal.” 

The agent’s voice wasn’t exactly sarcastic but there was something in his tone, like he was telling a joke she couldn’t get.

“Nice to meet you too…” Kala managed to say shyly, feeling dumb after what he had witnessed in the elevator. 

“M is the other agent assigned to your case.” Wolfgang explained as he opened the door the man was pointing at. If the blond felt any kind of discomfort after being caught, he didn’t show. _Shameless_ , Kala thought with a wave of affection rushing through her. 

Agent M grinned, standing right in front of the entrance.“Take your time.” 

Kala threw him one last embarrassed look before closing the door behind her. Then she turned and found an injured man lying on a hospital bed with a big, goofy smile on his face.

“Wolfgang!” He said with a soft voice filled with enthusiasm and it was clear that he was drowning in painkillers. “Whatcha doing here?” 

That made Kala smile. Seeing her father’s bodyguard with some bruises and cuts made her less scared of what she would find when she finally saw her father. He would be alright too. 

“I’m checking on you.” Wolfgang said, studying the scratches on his arms and face as he got closer to the bed. There was a bandage around his head but the man smiled as if he were waking up from a nap instead of having survived the blast of an explosion. “How are you?” 

“Can I ask for a favor?” Agent G ignored his question and the lifted his left hand as far as the tubes would allow, “Can you call Riley Bluenarsdóttir and tell her… tell her that a bomb exploded but that I’m alive? I’ve been wanting to… oh, Mrs Rasal, you are here too!” 

Kala was surprised to be acknowledged but she decided to take advantage of this to get closer to his bed. “I came to thank you in person for… taking care of my… my dad.” her voice started to break. Seeing him lying there materialized some of the fears that had gone through her head, but luckily it wasn’t the worst ones. She reached to touch his hand briefly and tried to smile. “Thank you.” 

“You are welcome.” He said, his eyes a little distant but still full of sincerity and Kala understood why Riley Blue would be smitten with them. 

Wolfgang’s hand brushed slowly over her arm and she took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. “So you are Riley’s… boyfriend?” 

“Yes!,” G nodded really fast and then he closed his eyes as if it were painful. “Well no… I’m not. I mean I want to be her boy but my job… I travel so much I can’t… we can’t... but I want to and I almost died and… I want to be with her but the room is spinning....” 

He closed his eyes again and Wolfgang got closer to ruffle his hair playfully, “It’s the drugs. Nomi said you have a problem with your memory?” 

“Yes. Amanita told me about the bomb but I don’t… I can’t…” he pointed at his head and then let it fall back to the pillow. 

“But you remember Riley...” Kala said and she ignored the knowing glance Wolfgang threw at her direction. 

“I can’t think of anything else.” Agent G said and this time he sounded lucid. It was almost like a confession. “Could you call her and tell her that I love her with all my heart? Diego doesn’t want me to ‘cuz he thinks I’m going to say something embarrassing.” 

“I wonder why...” Wolfgang muttered as he took his phone out of his pocket. “Here. Tell her yourself.”

The agent’s blue eyes got bigger with enthusiasm or maybe it was just the drugs. “Thank you, brother.” He said, taking the phone the blond offered and Wolfgang smiled before guiding Kala out of the room as the agent struggled with the touchscreen. 

“You think it’s a good idea to leave him with the phone?” 

“Yeah, he’ll be fine. He actually reminds me of you when you get drunk.” 

Kala gasped at the unexpected jab on her (lack of) resistance to alcohol, so she slapped his arm as he chuckled and they walked back to the elevator together, completely unaware of the dirty looks agent M was throwing in their direction. 

Once they disappeared behind the doors, Diego Morales rolled his eyes, completely fed up with the (utterly unprofessional) romantic relationships of his colleagues. 

“These fucking idiots…”


	39. Father

Kala was still smiling when they got out of the elevator and then her lips trembled as she saw her mother and sister standing in front of the door of his father’s hospital room. 

“Your father’s here.” Her mother said 

“Go first.” Daya smiled and she lifted her hand to touch Kala as her sister got closer to the door. 

She stopped before opening and then she turned around to ask. “Are you coming?” 

Wolfgang was still standing by the elevator. He thought she would want to be alone with her father, but if she offered him to tag along… 

“Yes.” He said, throwing a quick glance at Capheus’ direction. His friend nodded: he would take care of things outside. 

Slowly, Kala opened the door and Wolfgang closed it behind him.

“ _Pita_?” 

The man on the bed opened his eyes at the sound of Kala’s voice. He had more or less the same amount of injuries than Will, except that he was considerable older, so he also looked a lot more tired. 

“Kala…” 

Kala dashed to his side and started talking in Hindi with a sweet voice that threatened to break at any moment. Wolfgang walked to the other side of the room and remained by the corner, observing attentively the father-daughter reunion. 

_What if it was your father?_

Her question haunted him still. She let go of her father for a few seconds to check on the drugs the nurses were giving him. Her father watched her concentration with a loving smile. 

It was obvious that the circumstances of their childhoods had been completely different, and he wasn’t sure he could explain… But he’d had to, eventually. He would do it after all this was done… Kala needed to know who he really was before choosing to be with him; that was only fair, and he wanted to be fair, even if the truth was terrible.

Even if that made her walk away. 

Or was this an unconscious attempt of auto-sabotage? 

Should he consider just… shutting the fuck up? 

That would make things so much easier. 

“ _Yah Wolfgang hai_.” He reacted at the sound of his name and Kala signed him to get closer while she continued to whisper something to her father. “I’m telling him that you saved my life back in London.” Kala explained as she took his hand to pull him closer to the edge of the bed. 

She didn’t let go and her father’s eyes remained for a little bit on their hands, but then he looked up at Wolfgang and whispered with a raspy voice. “bahuT DHanyavaaD… Thank you.” the man raised a trembling hand and Wolfgang let go of Kala to take his softly. 

“ _Bitte schön._ ” He said with a lopsided smile. 

He stood by Kala’s side until she decided it was time to make room for her mom and sister. Wolfgang was hyper aware of her demeanor and it made him feel good to see the relief on her face as they entered the hallway one more time. 

But sadly, it didn’t last, because Rajan Rasal was there, waiting for his wife.


	40. A new feeling

Wolfgang didn’t need to understand shit of Hindi to know that Rajan had tried to get rid of him before getting into the car. 

Although he wasn’t sure why, since he had behaved just as promised. He took a step aside instead of getting between Kala and her husband. He didn’t take her hand to pull her away from Rajan when he wrapped Kala in his arms. And he didn’t punch him in the face when he kissed his clearly petrified wife. Wolfgang knew Kala wasn’t okay with Rajan’s affection, but she needed to pretend for the sake of her family… and it was all even more important now that they needed to get information out of him. 

So he looked away, clenched his jaw and shut the fuck up, just as he said he would. But his eyes must have been showing his thirst of violence because he could spot O looking at him from the far corner of the hallway. His friend raised a concerned eyebrow but Wolfgang just dropped his eyes to the floor, waiting for the order to leave the hospital. 

Then Kala started arguing with Rajan and Wolfgang assumed at first that they it was because they came back to India without any notice, but then he recognized Nomi and Amanita’s names in Rajan’s rant and that made him look up at the man. The blond was confronted then by wary looks coming from Mr. Rasal. The man took his wife by the shoulders and shook her a little, probably trying to make her listen to him and Wolfgang felt a pang of rage that finally got him to move his feet. 

 _Get away from her_ , was what he wanted to say, but instead it was Kala’s voice the one that echoed on the hallway, “He’s coming with me. I need him!” 

Both Rajan and Wolfgang were frozen in place. The only sound in the hallway was Kala’s mom probably asking Daya to translate her daughter’s last words to her. Kala gave a quick glance at Wolfgang’s direction before taking advantage of the pause by rushing to her mother and sister to say her goodbyes. 

Rajan’s arms fell lifeless by his sides and Wolfgang turned around one more time, waiting for Kala’s signal to leave. 

A part of him was fucking happy. How couldn’t him? There was a constant conflict inside of him about what he wanted to do and what was right… and listening to Kala say out loud that she needed him… but it wasn’t right. Not yet. She needed Rajan on her side to find out how he got the information about the safe-house in London.

And why was Rajan trying to get rid of the bodyguard that had kept his wife safe? Was he a fucking moron? He should be thanking Wolfgang… 

Unless he knew. 

But he couldn’t know, right? 

Wolfgang shook his head to get back to the present as he followed Kala, Rajan and his bodyguards outside.

He kept telling himself that Rajan couldn’t know about their… affair? For fucks sake, that was cheesy. Rajan’s car was big and Wolfgang got a seat on the back with another bodyguard. He was facing Kala and Rajan set his arm protectively over her shoulders and threw a deathly glance at the blond’s direction before ordering his chauffeur to start the car. 

Another wave of feelings rushed through Wolfgang but it wasn’t just anger now. There was an emptiness in his chest and it was uncomfortable. He still wanted to punch Rajan, but what he felt was closer to sadness. And longing. Kala looked uncomfortable in her husband’s arms and she was clearly avoiding his stare by looking at her hands over her lap. This was wrong, but he had promised… why did this have to be so shitty? What the hell was wrong with him? 

_You’re jealous._

It was a phrase Felix threw a lot at him when he was in a mood, but it had never been true… until now. 

He took a deep breath and looked out the window, trying to sort out his feelings. He had been with a lot of women in his life, and some of them had been married. But this was the first time he felt like fighting another man in the name of a woman. 

He closed his eyes then because he could feel Kala’s stare on him. 

Their connection was powerful. And confusing. Her presence brought him peace and it’s absence was painful, even if it was symbolic because she was right there, within arms reach. He just wasn’t allowed to touch her. 

He was mortified at how bad he was taking their first encounter with Rajan. And another proof of just how much this was messing with his head was the fact that he didn’t realize they had started talking in Hindi again, until it became an argument. He turned around when Kala raised her angry voice and he understood what she was saying. 

“How did you find out?” 

“Kala… svaaminee… Hindi, please.” Rajan asked nervously while throwing a quick glance at Wolfgang. 

“Daya told me you knew we were in London.” 

The man threw his arms in the air and then started to explain hopelessly. “When you left… I was a wreck, Kala. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I was stupid enough to put the thing I love most in danger.” He caressed her cheek with his hand, oblivious to the way her eyes narrowed at the word ‘thing’. Wolfgang’s hands were forming fists, “I couldn’t even think straight to cooperate with the investigation… so Ajay pulled some strings…” 

“Ajay?” Kala repeated, confused. 

The name rang a bell. Then Wolfgang’s mind went back to the day they met… before leaving, a man had entered the hotel room in Berlin. He had asked where he was taking Kala… He didn’t know him, but Nomi did. 

He needed his phone. 

“It was to give me some… some peace of mind. I needed to know that you were safe!” 

“And I was!” 

“Who gave him the information?” Wolfgang asked, checking the pockets of his jacket since he couldn’t find his phone in his pants. 

“You don’t think…” Rajan started but a furious Kala interrupted him. 

“You don’t?”

Then Wolfgang remembered that he had given it to Will. 

“Ajay’s my best friend and business partner… he wouldn’t…” 

“You should have told Marks this. Give me your phone.” Wolfgang tried to get closer to them but the other bodyguard held him down by the shoulder. 

“Leave him alone!” Kala ordered at the same time she snatched Rajan’s phone from the pocket of his shirt and threw it to Wolfgang. He shook the bodyguard’s hand off his shoulder as he started to dial Amanita’s number. 

“Don’t give it to him!” Rajan tried to get closer to Wolfgang but Kala kept him in place with one hand over his chest. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Ajay also found out information about him!” Rajan said, pointing at Wolfgang and silence fell in the backseat. 

Kala looked confused between the two of them, but Wolfgang already knew what this was all about. That didn’t stop the feeling of despair Wolfgang felt in his chest as Kala turned to her husband to ask, “What are you talking about?” 

“Mr. Rasal? Hello?” Amanita’s voice rang on Wolfgang's ear. 

Wolfgang’s finger moved over the screen to hang up so he could explain everything to Kala before Rajan did.

And then something crashed against the car.


	41. The fuck-up

Wolfgang woke up struggling to breath. 

His mind was stuck on the last thing he had seen. Everyone was thrown around as the car rolled up in the air. He reached out with his hand, trying to get to Kala. He saw her body slamming against the roof of the car and then everything went dark. 

When he opened his eyes, the light was blinding. 

“Kala!” He tried to stand up as he called her name but his hands were held in place by his sides. He collapsed on the bed and closed his eyes, waiting for the spinning to stop. 

“It’s alright, B.” 

“Where is she?” He asked, blinking several times because he couldn’t focus on the face above him. 

No one answered his question and the worst possibility came up to him: they had Kala.  

He screamed then and tried violently to free himself from the hospital bed, but he was handcuffed. A hand fell over his chest and he could finally recognize Capheus worried face, “You need to calm down.”

“Let me go!” 

“Where?” Another voice asked. Wolfgang stopped moving and he saw Will, standing by the door. He was wearing sweatpants and a shirt, but even without the hospital gown and the bandage he still looked like shit. 

“To get her back!” He answered, pulling on the handcuffs without caring about the pain that caused him. 

“We need to know where they took her first.” 

Wolfgang growled in frustration and let himself fall back on the bed, “Who did this?” He looked down at himself and noticed for the first time the pain he was feeling on his left side. His hospital gown was stained with blood right over the cut he got back in London. 

“Nomi. She was afraid that you wouldn’t stay still while she did her research.” Capheus explained. 

“Does she have a lead?” 

“We still don’t know.” Will offered him a sad smile. 

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Capheus asked him with a low voice. 

Wolfgang stared at the ceiling, trying to focus. “They crashed our car.” 

Capheus nodded, “Mr. Rasan and Kala were taken yesterday…”

“What?” 

“You were unconscious for a long time.” Will explained and Wolfgang felt nauseous. He closed his eyes. It was getting harder to breath again. 

“They shot everyone else in the head…” Capheus continued, “the bodyguards, the driver… all except you.”

Wolfgang opened his eyes again and looked at him confused, “What the fuck does that mean?” 

“We are not sure, but Nomi had an idea…” 

“Get these things off me!” 

“We don’t have the key.” Will said, crossing his arms while avoiding his gaze. 

“As if you needed one!”

“A recent wound of yours is bleeding again. You suffered multiple contusions and you almost broke your leg…” Capheus explained patiently. Wolfgang finally tried to calm down which allowed him to feel like shit, but it wasn’t because of his list of injuries. He let his ragged breathing slow down while thinking about everything he had done wrong since he met Kala. 

He had cared more about her feelings that he did about procedure. If he had not given in to his own selfish desires of making her happy at the expense of her security she would still be resigned to live in a marriage she hated, but she would be truly safe, as he had promised. 

Instead, he fell for his client and ruined everything. 

And now he didn’t even know if she was still alive. 

“You love her, right?” Will’s voice brought him back to reality. Wolfgang didn’t like the way his friend was observing him, like he was a bug under a lens. “That explains this shit show.” 

Wolfgang scoffed bitterly. “You would know.” 

“We’ve all been there.” Capheus reminded both of them, sensing the tension in the air.  

“What would you do if it were Zakia? Or Riley?” Wolfgang looked between both of them. This was his last chance to make them understand. 

Capheus and Will looked at each other and Wolfgang knew what they were thinking without needing to hear it: they wouldn’t stop. 

“Nomi’s gonna kill me.” Will muttered as he accepted the paper clip Capheus had just taken off Wolfgang’s documents, but he didn’t get to touch the metal on Wolfgang’s wrist. 

Before that, the door was opened by a weirdly calm Nomi, who looked at the three of them with suspicious for a few seconds, but them she seemed to remember what she was there for, “I’m glad to see you are awake Wolfgang.” She threw a tiny key to Capheus direction and the man caught it mid-air. “Get ready boys. A plane is waiting and we have work to do.” 

 


	42. The truth

Kala woke up slowly, because everything hurt. 

She first tried to move her head and when that proved painful on her neck she decided to assess the state of her body before opening her eyes. 

She was sitting on a chair and her hands were tied behind her back. She tried to move her feet but they were tied to the chair too. One of her legs was hurting a little. She parted her lips discretely and was relieved to find that, at least, they hadn’t covered her mouth. 

On the downside, that meant that she was in a place where nobody would hear her if she called for help. 

For how long had she been unconscious? 

And was she alone? 

That last question was answered rather quickly. 

“Kala? Are you awake?” 

She reacted to the sound of Rajan’s voice. She lifted her head and found him in the same situation as her. He had a big cut on his forehead and the blood had dripped all the way down to his shirt. It was dry now. There was a table in the middle of the room. The walls were white and there were no windows. There was only a door with a tiny keyboard and a surveillance camera placed right above it. 

Wolfgang wasn’t there. 

“Kala?” Rajan insisted and she asked the question before even thinking about it. 

“Where is Wolfgang?” 

Rajan seemed confused at first but when he understood who she was talking about, he seemed hurt. “I don’t know.” 

A tiny part of her felt bad for hurting him, but she forgot about it quickly because she was worried sick. Where was he? She remembered the car crash and seeing Wolfgang’s body slamming against the door and then… 

There was a short beep and the door opened slowly. A man in a blue suit entered the room, holding some plastic cups and a pitcher full of water. “I thought you would be thirsty.” 

“Ajay!” Rajan recognized the man but he couldn’t believe his eyes. Kala felt her throat closing as she saw her husband going through the emotions. She knew what Ajay’s friendship meant to Rajan. They had known each other since childhood, they grew up together, they studied together and eventually they got to work together under Manendra’s wing. He was practically the brother he never had… The heartbreak in Rajan’s face showed this and so much more, but the moment passed and it was replaced with a rage that Kala had never seen before in her husband. Rajan growled in frustration and started to wrestle over his chair, trying to get rid of the ropes that bound him. 

“Don’t wear yourself out Rajan. You hit your head really hard in the car crash.” Ajay said in a tone that suggested they got together to drink some afternoon tea instead of just being revealed as a traitor to their trust. He placed the cups on the table and filled them with water. “Now, who’s thirsty?” 

Ajay looked expectantly between them and flinched when Rajan screamed desperately, “You could have killed us!” 

“That’s what I told them.” He started to explain as he took a seat on an empty chair, “But they got tired of looking for Kala.” 

“But you have me now. I’m the one you need, right? Let her go and I’ll do whatever you want!” 

“It doesn’t work like that. Not anymore at least… you should have taken all the other offers… you do realize that I’m their last choice, right?” He looked over to Kala. “I’m sorry it has come to this.” 

“I can see you are devastated.” Kala said dryly as she tried not to unleash all the disgust she felt in that moment, but still, she added. “After killing so many innocent people… and what you did to my father.”

“What do they want?” Rajan asked, trying to control the volume of his voice but he failed. 

“They want the company in the hands of someone who’s a better team player… that would be me, of course.” 

“Then why am I here?” Kala asked and Ajay turned quickly to her, trying to avoid Rajan’s death stare. 

“Well, if Rajan dies,” he pointed to his once best friend, “the company goes to you, and if you die without a proper heir, everything would be up in the air. So you are going to leave everything to me.” His finger touched his own chest and turned his attention back to Rajan. “Oh, don’t look so surprised, you knew these people were dangerous, Rajan. Your father told you so. And besides, it’s not that bad, this way you get to live a little longer… you’ll have until the paperwork is done.” 

“Someone will figure it out. Someone will find out it was you...” 

“That’s not going to happen because in a few hours my new friends will demand a ransom for the three of us. And after a few days I’ll be the only survivor of a tragic kidnapping case. Then when I overcome the trauma of watching my best friend and his wife die… I’ll be back in business.” 

Kala and Rajan looked at each other then. It was a weird moment of connection, discovering what their fate was in the hands of those people… she had not been happy with him and his decisions lately, but that didn’t mean he… they didn’t deserve this. 

“May I add that I’m not proud of this, at all?” Ajay said, trying to get their attention back. 

“Fuck you.” Rajan spitted the words and Ajay opened his mouth, probably to defend himself, but he seemed to think better about it and closed it again. Then he gave a little push to one of the cups.

“Water?” He offered. 

In that moment, Kala realized that she was really thirsty. She didn’t know how long it had been since her last drink or bite of food, but there was no way in hell that she would ask him for anything. She’d rather starve to death. 

After a long silence Ajay seemed to get the idea and he rose from his chair, walking slowly to the door. Then Kala remembered there was actually one thing she needed from him. “Where’s Wolfgang?” 

Ajay waved his fingers over the tiny keyboard and then dropped his hand before turning around to face her. 

The wicked look in his face almost made her regret it, but she needed to know… 

“Are you thinking about your bodyguard right now, Mrs. Rasal?” He asked, raising an eyebrow, “What did I tell you, Rajan? It looks like my sources were right when they told me Agent B was quite popular with the ladies. Specially the married ones…” 

“Shut up, Ajay.” Rajan growled, looking down to avoid his ex-friend’s gaze and his wife’s embarrassed expression. 

“I still have to answer. I don’t know if he survived the car crash but the men that took you were instructed not to kill him. It seems that your bodyguard used to have good friends in some really nasty places… so don’t worry.” 

Kala saw him wink at her before turning to the door. He entered the code and got out, leaving her completely confused with a heartbroken Rajan.


	43. A second chance

Wolfgang recognized the logo on the plane immediately, but he didn’t know what it meant. 

“I have a bad feeling about this…” Capheus whispered as they climbed up the stairs and Wolfgang’s mind raced to figure out what possessed Nomi to connect the dots this way. 

Inside they found Amanita, already installed in the luxurious space and sitting across her table there were miss Sun Bak and detective Kwon-Ho Mun.

Wolfgang could remember well the last time he had seen their old client: it had been a sunny day in Seoul four years ago, at her father’s funeral. 

“Miss Bak.” Capheus greeted her with a tiny nod of his head, but with enough enthusiasm in his voice that made it clear he was really happy to see her. 

“Hello, gentlemen.” Sun nodded in their direction too. For a moment her expression brightened and she offered them a tiny smile, but it disappeared too quickly. “Take your seats, please.”  

“What is this all about?” Will asked while taking the seat next to Capheus. 

Wolfgang saw the change in her posture and her eyes going empty, and so he knew the answer before she said it, “Joong-Ki.”

“But Wolfgang shot him.” Capheus said, confused. 

“I killed him.” Wolfgang added through a clenched jaw. 

“And I saw how it happened!” Capheus insisted. 

In that moment, Nomi entered the plane. She was the last one, so the door was being closed as she took a seat next to Amanita. She looked around nervously, feeling the heaviness in the air and she grabbed her wife’s hand, “I guess you told them.” 

“Cockroaches are hard to kill.” Sun said simply, fixing her eyes on the table while nervously fidgeting with her fingers over it.  

A flight attendant appeared then and informed them that they would take off shortly. 

“It occurred to me when they didn’t kill you Wolfgang…” Nomi started to explain once the lady was gone and all the eyes turned to her, “that someone from your past must be involved…” 

“So we contacted agent Mun and it turned out they were already investigating what seems to be the same people with other complementary criminal activities in Korea.” Amanita added. 

“So they took Kala… and Rajan Rasal just for revenge?” Wolfgang asked and then they all felt the trembling of the engine as it came to life. A sign indicating that they should all fasten their seat-belts lit up on the ceiling and they all did as instructed. 

“I don’t think so.” Mun replied, letting his hand casually fall over Sun’s once she finished with her seatbelt. She didn’t complain and Capheus raised an eyebrow when he noticed this, but agent Mun didn’t react in any way. “People like Joong-Ki only know one way of surviving, so is only natural for him to find another criminal group to be a part of… you just happened to be hired by one of his most recent victims. It’s a terrible coincidence.” 

“How are you feeling, Sun?” Will asked with concern and the woman seemed surprised to hear this question. 

The plane started moving then and she took a moment to answer. “I’m grateful for the work you did for me and my father all those years ago…” She said and she looked pointedly at Wolfgang, “You did all you could, considering Joong-Ki’s betrayal…” She offered them a tiny and sad smile. “I’m not happy that he is still alive but a part of me believes this is… some kind of second chance. I’m going to kill him myself.” 

“We’ll help you make it happen…” Wolfgang said, conscious enough about the concerned glances her boss was exchanging with Will and Capheus, but he didn’t care. Sun Bak’s dark eyes matched his determination. It was a relief to know that they were not trapped in a dark corner. He could fix this.  

 _If she’s still alive_ , said a pessimistic voice in his head and he tried to ignore it the second that thought crossed his mind. 

It was easy because an Indian woman dressed as a nurse appeared in front of them and she started distributing pills between Will and Wolfgang. Both men looked puzzled at their boss. 

“You just got out of the hospital.” Nomi explained, raising an exasperated hand. “You’ll need medication to function in the next 48 hours.” 

The woman left after leaving two bottles of water in front of her patients. Will took all his pills without hesitation, but Wolfgang didn’t even touched them as they trembled lightly over the table. 

“Will they knock me out?” He asked warily. 

“A few hours, maybe…” Nomi answered nonchalantly and Wolfgang studied her expression for a few seconds. Nomi held his gaze calmly. 

“Promise me you won’t leave me aside for this.” He said finally, reaching out to play with one of the pills between his fingers, but his eyes never left Nomi. 

She bit her lip, finally looking away. “This is a complicated mission, Wolfgang...” 

“I need to go, Nomi.” He insisted and then took a deep breath before he added. “Please.” 

All heads turned to see him, except for agent Mun, who looked around at everyone else and finally at Sun, clearly confused. 

Nomi exchanged a surprised look with Amanita and the girl nodded. And apparently, that was all she needed to say it. “Fine. I promise.” 

She didn’t look convinced but that was enough for him. Wolfgang opened the bottle and took all his pills at once. Then he closed his eyes and fell back on his seat, feeling the plane accelerating to take them off India. 

 


	44. Honesty

A woman and an armed man entered the room a few hours after Ajay left. They didn’t say a word to Rajan and Kala. The woman just got to the job of untying them while the armed man stood by the door, carefully watching them.

The woman also took care of their injuries. She was probably a nurse. Kala was so relieved to finally be able to move her arms freely that she didn’t complain at all when she felt her skin sting as the woman disinfected the wound on her right leg. She had a long cut and the blood had dripped to her shoes. 

Rajan did the same as her. He got a gauze on his arm and a bandaid on his forehead. The rest were only bruises. 

Both the nurse and the man left without tying them up again. As soon as the door was closed Rajan hurried to Kala’s side and took her face in his hands. 

“Are you alright?” 

“It’s just my leg and my wrists.” She said, rubbing her numbed arms back to life. “You?” 

“Just my head… and my heart.” He added while taking Kala’s hands softly to help her off the chair. 

Kala winced as she had spent God knows how many hours sitting. They both started looking around the tiny room, but there really was no other way out besides the door. 

The sound of water dripping made Kala jump a little and Rajan looked at her apologetically and he offered her a glass full of water. A part of Kala thought that maybe the people Ajay was working for had done something to the water, but then she realized that their captors had let go of many chances to kill them before, so it was very unlikely they would do it with poison.  

Besides, they needed their signatures first, so she accepted the glass and finished the water in one quick drink. 

Rajan did the same and then filled up both glasses before getting his back against the wall and slowly falling to the floor. 

Kala limped to his side and did the same. 

They both drank in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the feeling of their extended legs on the floor and the support of the cold wall at the back of their heads. 

Kala’s mind slowly turned it’s focus towards Wolfgang. She wondered what could he be doing right now... He was probably worried sick about her, if his injuries after the car crash allowed him to be conscious. 

Her chest hurt while thinking about it and after a few minutes she didn’t know what was worse: the thought of Wolfgang all bruised, lying on a hospital bed, or the thought of him chasing after her, going straight towards danger. 

Was he trying to find her at that very moment? 

“I’m sorry.” Rajan suddenly broke the silence, and she was thankful for the interruption.

“Me too.” Kala said and he looked at her, puzzled. 

“Why are you apologizing?” 

“This isn’t working.” She replied, slowly turning her head to face him. Her neck hurt a lot. 

“I know.” Rajan nodded. “We’ve been kidnapped.” 

“I’m talking about us.” She clarified and his eyebrows came together over his brown eyes once he understood. 

“Do you think this is the right moment to discuss our marriage?” He asked, carefully trying to control the volume of his voice, but it came a little exasperated anyway. 

“If we are going to die, yes. I want to be honest with you.” Her tone was calm and that surprised her. She remembered the weird serenity she felt on the plane to Mexico after London. It was shock and she was grateful. She liked the clarity of mind, even if it was temporary. 

Rajan closed his eyes. There was no argument against that. “Okay.” 

“When I met you… I liked you,” she started to explain. “But it was never more than that.” She looked away then. She didn’t need to see Rajan going through all the painful emotions one more time. “What I’m trying to say is that there was a lot of pressure two years ago and my family had great expectations... at the moment, marrying you seemed like the right thing to do…” 

“But you never loved me.” Rajan said and then he sighed. 

“I’m sorry.” Kala apologized and if it were not painful to move, she would have crossed her arms. This was not the way she wanted to have this conversation but there wasn’t any other choice now. 

“No I… I always knew.” Rajan admitted. She saw his hand hovering above hers for a moment, but then he let it fall again over his own leg. “I guess I was hoping you would come to love me the same way I love you. But I ruined it, didn’t I?” 

His hand formed a fist and then relaxed. Kala felt the impulse of taking it to console him, but that wouldn’t be fair; she needed to be firm. “I understand that your father put you in a difficult position…” 

Rajan let out a light chuckle, “You are too good Kala…” 

“Not always.” 

Silence fell once more between them, but the nervous fidgeting of Rajan’s fingers told Kala that he wasn’t done talking yet, “Can I ask… what happened with your bodyguard?” 

_I fell in love with him._

The thought was unexpected but ultimately true. It had been hard to figure it out before, when she was thinking about her duty as a wife, the commitment she had with Rajan and her relationship with her family. But now that she knew she was going to die soon… her feelings for Wolfgang were crystal clear. And they were also completely useless now. If only she had known her feelings before…if only she had been able to tell him at the dance club or the beach…but now it was too late. 

She fell in love with her bodyguard, that’s what had happened, but she didn’t tell Rajan that. It didn’t mattered that their days were number, she would not be cruel to him in order to be honest. “We have a connection,” she said instead, trying to sound casual even though she felt her throat tighten while thinking of him, “it’s hard to explain…” 

Rajan nodded as he looked away and she waited. There had been so many things to process in the last hours that it was hard to tell how he was feeling with their conversation. 

“When he took you to London,” he said cautiously, “Ajay told me… well, now I see where he got his information…” 

“I don’t want to know.” Kala interrupted him quickly and he looked at her. She shook her head as she raised her shoulders hopelessly and her voice finally broke. “What’s the point if we are going to die?” 

What was the point of knowing whatever dark secret Ajay had found about Wolfgang if she was never going to see him again? She felt like nothing mattered anymore and she broke down. She started crying, wishing she could have the chance to see him one more time, to say goodbye at least, but all she got was Rajan’s arms pulling her closer to him. 

“I’m sorry Kala. I’m so sorry.” He whispered into her hair and she sobbed over his shoulder, letting go of everything inside her.

Her hate for Ajay. 

Her sadness for her family.

The pity she felt for herself and Rajan. 

And all the love Wolfgang had inspired in her; the love she would never get to give him.

 


	45. Hope

Korea was a reminder of Wolfgang’s one and only failure as a bodyguard. Well, now there were two. 

The memories of his last assignment in that country started to mingle with all his current worries. Kang-Dae Bak was the only person that had died under Wolfgang’s watch. He had been killed by the hand of his own son, who had pretended to be an innocent victim long enough to get rid of his father. Now, he had pretended to be dead long enough to get his hands on Kala.  

Wolfgang’s blood ran cold through his veins as he and the rest of the women and men assigned to the rescue mission geared up in one of Seoul’s police stations. 

Mun would be running the operation with only a few local elements that he trusted completely and he had also granted Nomi’s team special permission to tag along, for which Wolfgang would always be grateful. 

“You are nervous.” Wolfgang looked up from his gun and found Sun taking the seat by his side. He had already finished with his bulletproof vest and had spent the last few minutes playing to arm and disarm his gun as a way of distraction. He quickly glanced around and saw Will and Capheus checking up the different guns and knives they would take with them. “I would even say that you are scared.” 

“A little…” He confessed. Even after years of being apart, he still felt like he could be honest with Miss Bak, just like the very first night he was assigned to her family. He found out pretty quickly that she wasn’t the one worried about safety; she even taught Wolfgang and Capheus a few things while they worked for them. He also remembered just how much he had in common with the woman; they both had complicated relationships with their fathers (even thought he would always win in that particular department), a family business to keep afloat (and she had been better on that one) and both of them gave zero fucks when it came down to get their hands dirty and get the job done. 

Their way of thinking was similar, so he wasn’t surprised that she could tell how he felt. 

“Don’t be.” She said, giving him a light push on the shoulder with her arm. 

“Mostly I… feel like shit.” It was hard to speak, so he cleared his throat to continue. “I failed you all those years ago and I’m failing again…” He hid his face into his hands and took a deep breath. 

_She’s alive._

_They must need her alive for something._

_It will be over soon._

_Be patient._

“I’m sorry my brother has caused you so much pain.” Sun whispered, sounding completely disappointed, but Wolfgang felt the underlying wrath in her voice. 

“Don’t apologize. This is not your fault…” Wolfgang let the gun on the chair beside him and rubbed his hands over his legs, trying to calm down his nerves. 

“Then it’s not your fault either.” 

Wolfgang nodded and then he spotted Agent Mun at the other side of the office, trying to glance discreetly at their direction. 

“And…” the blond cleared his throat before asking, “how did you convince Detective Mun of all this?” 

Sun turned around to look at the man in question and Wolfgang saw the change in her expression. It was subtle, but her lips relaxed a little and her brown eyes softened. He wondered if there was also a visible change in him when he was around Kala. 

He’d have to save her to find out. 

“When I want, I can be very persuasive…” Sun answered once she recovered from the sight of the Detective and that almost made him smile. 

He still felt like shit, but he was doing something to fix his screw up and his friends were there to help him. He felt hope even. He would keep his promise to Kala and return her safely home, even if it costed him his life. 

The truth behind that last thought resonated inside him and he found himself short of breath. 

_You love her, right?_

He had not answered Will’s question because he didn’t need too. Will and Capheus knew just by seeing him and Nomi had probably put the dots together by now. 

It wasn’t exactly a revelation for Wolfgang, but he just discovered how deep in he was when the possibility of dying while saving her seemed like an acceptable risk. He would do anything, because he—

“Okay everyone, let’s go!” Detective Mun yelled from the entrance of the station, yanking Wolfgang out of his thoughts. It was time. “ _Kaja_!” 

 


	46. The door

Kala lay on the floor, fighting to keep her eyes open and focused on the ceiling. She wondered how many hours had passed since they got there. Was it day or night outside? 

Their captors had only given them water once, and now she and Rajan were starving. 

She turned her head to look at him. He was sitting on a chair, eyes fixed on the door. He had not say a word since she had stopped crying. She didn’t blame him  though, because she didn’t feel like talking a lot either. 

What was taking them so long? Was the waiting some kind of torture? If so, maybe they deserved it, if she really thought about it. Yes, they had considered themselves to be good, but Rajan had deliberately sold medicine that could harm people who were already sick. Lots of people could have died for this. Surely, someone did. And she, in her ignorance, had allowed him to do it for years. She had worked with him and she had lived with him and even when she first found out the truth she didn’t want to believe it… so maybe they deserved it. 

Rajan would die knowing that Kala never loved him and Kala would die without saying goodbye to the only man she ever loved.  

She closed her eyes and tried to remember London. The cold air. The busy streets. Wolfgang’s fingers intertwined with hers. 

Kala tried to turn her sadness into peace and for a brief moment, she felt it. 

 

\---

 

The rescue team had left the police station a little after ten p.m.

Detective Mun was the one driving the van while Sun and the rest of the team were hiding in the back. 

They all felt it when the vehicle stopped. They were at the entrance to the garage of the building where Joong-Ki hid his most recent operation. Wolfgang could hear Mun talking casually to another man in Korean. He had paid someone a ridiculous amount of wons (with the help of Sun, of course) to get them in. 

Wolfgang’s knee was trembling slightly as the seconds passed. He wished for a cigarette. And alcohol. Lots of it. 

“When this is over,” Capheus whispered, somehow managing to sound as calm as Mun even though they didn’t know what they could find in that building, “We’ll go get a drink.” 

For the second time in thirty minutes, Wolfgang almost smiled. 

“And cheese burgers.” Will added and the blond rolled his eyes, but it was Sun who voiced what he was thinking. 

“How American of you.” She said and one of Mun’s men tried to disguise his laugh as coughing, but then they all went silent as the van started to move again. 

“It will be alright Wolfgang.” Capheus had leaned close to his ear. “We’ll get your girl back.” 

 _My girl_ , Wolfgang repeated in his head, surprised at how much he liked how that sounded and Capheus gave him a couple of reassuring pats on the knee. 

“You are in guys.” They all could hear Nomi’s voice coming out of the device in their ears. She and Amanita had hacked into the CCTV of the streets surrounding the building, and in a few minutes they would find their way into that building’s surveillance system too. “Good luck.” 

 

—-

 

Kala was startled by the sound of an alarm going off. She got on her feet as fast as the pain on her leg allowed her to and then got closer to Rajan.

She looked around the room, confused and her eyes lingered for a few seconds on the surveillance camera above the door. 

For a moment, she looked directly into the eyes of one of her captors, but she didn’t know that. 

“Are you sure about this?” Ajay asked in the control room, his eyes full of worry as he observed the screens in front of him. He had lost his cool demeanor the second the alarm went off. Having to work with him bored Lila to death, but she smiled, hiding her loathing for the man. 

“Didn’t your mother taught you to play a little bit with your food?” She asked before pushing the button that would open the door to their room. 

They carefully watched the reaction of their prisoners as they expected someone to show up. 

“Milton approved this?” Asked Joong-Ki, who at least pretended to be alright with the invasion of their building. She was working with toddlers. 

“ _Mr._ _Cannibal_ is playing house right now, so I’m in charge. Besides, didn’t I tell you Herr Bogdanov would show up?” She pointed with her gun to one of the screens that showed the shooting going on at ground level. She slid one of her hands across Joong-Ki’s shoulders and smirked when she felt him shudder. “This is your chance at revenge, Mr. Bak.” 

She took a step back and admired the hatred filling up Joong-Ki’s expression. Getting shot and being left for dead had that effect on people. 

“He’s fucking annoying like that.” Joong-Ki admitted through gritted teeth. 

“Oh, no. This is something else…” Lila’s eyes flickered to the pictures scattered in front of the monitors. They showed that woman and Wolfgang standing at the Bridge Tower in London, smiling like idiots in the middle of the night. Lila felt like throwing up, so she turned her attention back to the camera feed. The idiot and his wife were still inside the room, confused about being left alone with the door completely open. She smiled. “Just look at them. They think they have a chance.” 

 


	47. The eight floor

Mun’s team took over the ground floor pretty quickly. Since it was late there were only a few security guards and the majority didn’t resist the arrest, but one of them managed to activate the alarm before they had a chance to make their way to the second floor and everything went to shit right after. 

Armed men came out of some offices and the rescue team had to scatter. The ground floor was spacious and minimalistic, with almost no options for cover. Some of the police officers got behind white columns while Capheus, Will and Wolfgang hid behind the main desk, just in time to avoid getting shot. 

Wolfgang lost sight of Detective Mun and Sun, but he couldn’t quite look around for them in the chaos. He’d have to trust they would be okay. 

“Can you see us, Nomi?” Wolfgang almost had to scream to make sure his boss would listen. 

“Just… wait… now!” The mix of noises made it almost impossible to hear her voice. “I have eyes on you, and the other floors too.” 

“Where is she?” Wolfgang yelled and he noticed some movement at the corner of his eye. He turned fast to his left and sneaked an arm behind Capheus, who was too busy covering their right. Wolfgang pulled the trigger and shot another armed man coming out of the emergency staircase right on the throat. The man’s hand dropped his gun as he tried to cover the bleeding wound but he fell to the floor with nothing else to do to save himself. 

“I’m… on it...” 

“Can we take the stairs?” Will asked after seeing what Wolfgang had done. 

“There are five more men going to you from there.” 

The three of them got in position and started shooting as soon as the door opened. One by one the bodies fell to the floor and they only stopped shooting when they heard Capheus scream. The boys turned to him as he cursed, holding his left shoulder. 

“Dammit!” 

“We gotta get to the stairs!” Wolfgang said, getting ready to drag Capheus with him. 

“I’ll cover you.” Will assured them and, without need of any other word, they got to action at the same time. 

It was the advantage of training and working together for years. They all had different methods and styles, but their thoughts were synchronized. That’s why Wolfgang knew the guys would refuse his next plan as soon as they jumped over the bodies and got to close the staircase door, but he had to say it anyway. 

“Stay here. I’ll go alone.” 

“No fucking way.” Will said, ripping apart the sleeve of Capheus’ t-shirt to improvise a tourniquet. Wolfgang saw with relief that his vest had stopped two other bullets to his chest. 

“We are a team.” Capheus murmured, his eyes half closed due to the pain. “Now we’ll all have nice scars to remember this mission.” 

“Guys, I found them.” Nomi said into their ears. 

“Where?” Wolfgang felt his heart beating faster in his chest. 

_She’s alive._

“Eight floor.” She answered, sounding worried. 

“What’s wrong?” Capheus asked. 

“Apparently they are… alone. There’s no one with them… the whole floor is empty.” 

“It’s gotta be a trap.” Will looked at his friends with worry in his eyes, knowing well that it didn’t matter in the end. 

Wolfgang recharged the ammo of his gun quickly before starting to climb the stairs. He didn’t care how many traps they could find on the way, he was too close to Kala to stop now. “Let’s go.” 

 

\---

 

“What if it’s a trap?” 

Rajan closed his eyes in frustration. “This might be our only chance...” He pointed at the door without conviction. Kala new he was just as scared as her, but at least if they got out they would be doing _something_ to save themselves. 

Finally, she nodded. “Let’s go.” 

The hallway was empty and the lights were on. The sound of the alarm was deafening and Kala realized that they wouldn’t be able to hear anyone coming because of it. Rajan walked a couple of steps ahead of her and got closer to a window. The darkness of the night was filled with lights from the nearby buildings and the neon shine of dozens of adds. Kala looked at the words and recognized the language even though she didn’t know what they meant. 

“We’re in Korea.” She murmured. Her mind struggled to connect the dots but she was too tired to come up with any conclusion. She felt dizzy and her head hurt as Rajan pulled her by the arm to keep on going down the hallway. 

“Let’s get out of here.” 

He dragged her around and then he spotted an elevator. They didn’t even had the time to wonder if it was a good idea to take it or not. The green number on the tiny screen above it went up slowly. They didn’t know what floor they were in but it sure as hell wasn’t safe to stay and find out like that. 

“Come on!” Rajan pulled Kala around the corner and then got through the first door he found open.  

They remained hidden in the dark office and tried to listen. A few seconds after they closed the door, the terrible sound of the alarm stopped. Kala sighed, feeling her headache diminish instantly, but now they had to keep quiet because there were footsteps approaching them and voices yelling orders. 

Rajan’s eyes went wide when he recognized Ajay’s voice in the distance and Kala’s hand moved quickly to hold his arm. 

 _Don’t_ , she mouthed and closed her eyes, praying not to be found. 

“Maybe this is how I save you.” Rajan whispered, and Kala looked at him, confused. “I can distract them.” 

 

\---

 

“Guys, get out of the stairs, now!” 

It was so much easier listening to Nomi now. But that only meant they were easier to discover, and by the sound of rushing steps, someone knew they were there. 

They obeyed and crossed the first door they found, entering an empty hallway.

“You are on the fourth floor.” 

Wolfgang was about to ask if it was a good idea to take the elevator when the doors of the offices around them opened, and they found themselves surrounded by armed men. They were outnumbered, but that didn’t stop Will from taking the initiative to disarm the closest thug and it all turned to chaos from that moment on. 

Wolfgang moved around, avoiding punches and even a few knives and every time he punched someone he felt a little more desperate. He was wasting time. 

One of the men managed to connect a punch on his left side, knocking the wind out of him. Capheus went to his aid when he heard the blond complain and stabbed the attacker on the back.

The man fell and they took a moment to catch their breath after Will kicked the last of their attackers, leaving him unconscious on the floor. 

“Are you alright?” Nomi asked even though she had seen everything. 

“Y-yeah.” Wolfgang answered between coughs.

“Good, cuz they are more coming from the stairs.” 

“What about the elevator?” Capheus asked.

“A lot of people just left it on the eighth floor. Kala and Rajan are hiding for now.” 

“You should take it.” Will told Wolfgang, and then he started to verify his gun. “We’ll stall them.” 

Wolfgang took a second to look at them. Capheus’ nose was bleeding and Will had a new cut on his cheek. It could be worse.

“Stay alive.” Wolfgang said, giving both of them an intense look while stepping back. 

“You too.” Capheus smiled and then he retrieved one of his knives from a dead man’s chest. 

Wolfgang walked to the elevator and glanced at his friends one last time while the doors opened. He entered and pushed the button to the eight floor. As soon as the doors closed again, he let himself fall against the wall. He felt his legs falter. The right one hurt a lot. Was that the one he almost broke? He couldn’t remember.

“Are you alright?” Nomi asked again and Wolfgang knew that it was just the two of them now. He looked up at the security camera on the corner, imagining his boss at the other side.

“How is she?” 

_Please be safe._

“They seem fine but… shit.” 

“What?” 

“Rajan left Kala alone in the office. He’s… I think he wants to distract… Ajay, yes. That’s Ajay Kapoor. Holy shit.” 

Wolfgang had forgotten about Ajay. That traitor. He would kill him along with Joong-Ki if Sun didn’t beat him to it. 

“What’s Rajan doing?” Wolfgang asked frustrated as he looked the five turning to six on the monitor on the wall.

“He just ran away using the stairs and everyone went after him.” 

“He’s going to get himself killed.” Said Wolfgang bitterly as he verified his gun one more time. _Idiot._ Still, he was surprised Rajan was doing something useful, even if it was stupid. 

The six turned to seven. 

“Just get Kala out of there as soon as possible. I’ll send the boys to help Rajan.” 

The seven turned to eight and the elevator doors opened slowly. 

“Where is she?” 

 

—- 

 

A trembling Kala stood behind the closed door. 

She held a laptop in her hands. She had snatched it from the desk as soon as she heard everyone going after Rajan. 

 _You’re an idiot!_ She wanted to scream, but she pursed her lips nervously as she heard footsteps getting closer: not everyone had left the floor. 

Kala would have to fight to get out. She had never thought of herself as a fighter but Rajan was risking his life for her. And Wolfgang had done the same. She’d do anything to get out and make sure that they were okay. 

A shadow blocked the light under the door and Kala held her breath. _This is it_ , she thought as the knob started to turn slowly. She lifted the laptop, ready to swing.

“Kala?” A voice called softly and she gasped when she recognized it. Her hands let go of the computer before she could hit him, but it still crashed against the wall, missing Wolfgang just by a couple of inches. 

“Shit!” He lifted his arm to cover his face and then Kala hugged him, pushing him against the same wall. 

“You’re here!” 

“You’re alive.” Wolfgang said, feeling the weight of the world being lifted from his shoulders. His arms fell around Kala and he pulled her closer while burying his face in her hair. 

“How did you find me?” Kala asked, her voice breaking at the end as she started to cry. She held to his jacket with all her force, and even though they were still in that building, surrounded by people who wanted to hurt them, she couldn’t help feeling happy to have him in her arms. 

“It’s a long story…” he pushed her away from him and into the light of the hallway, taking her face in his hands with a gentle touch. She looked tired. There were tears falling down her cheeks, some bruises on her arms, and a long cut on her leg, surely caused by the car crash, but otherwise she looked alright. Then he glanced at the pieces of broken plastic at their feet, “Is that a laptop?” 

“I’m sorry.” She apologized immediately, looking mortified. 

“It was a good idea.” He said, smiling easily for the first time since Mumbai. She was so fierce and beautiful… he lowered his head to kiss her lips and she ran her hands through his hair. He had missed the taste of her lips. He felt like he could kiss her forever and he probably would have, but suddenly the lights of the hallway went out. 

Wolfgang broke the kiss as he heard Nomi’s voice. “Wolfgang I can’t see you!” 

 

\--- 

 

“Well, it’s settled now.” Lila said as she looked away from the screen in disgust. She confirmed her gun was loaded with a few quick movements of her hands. “She has to die.” 

Joong-Ki looked at her, raising his eyebrows. “Are you sure?” 

“I’m tired of playing hide and seek with that bitch.” She offered him the gun and he rose from his chair to take it. “The boss won’t mind as long as Ajay has the husband. So go and kill her.” 

Joong-ki took another look between the couple on the screen and Lila and smiled before hiding the gun inside his jacket. “Yes m’am.” 

Lila took her coat and her bag from one of the chairs and then she entered a code on the closest keyboard, causing a countdown to appear on all the screens. “I’ll see you at the helicopter.” She said, walking towards the door. “Oh and… make sure he watches.” 

Joong-Ki nodded once as she left the office and then the lights went out.  

 


	48. The last resource

Wolfgang tried to guide Kala through the dark corridors of the eight floor. He had an idea of the direction they should take to find the emergency staircase, so he pulled Kala’s hand to keep her close as he verified every corner before they advanced. It was hard since the only light available was that of the neon lights from the buildings outside. They passed walls painted in blue, pink and yellow before finding the staircase, but Wolfgang took a moment before deciding to take it.

“Are the stairs clear? Nomi?” Wolfgang asked in a whisper as he leaned against the wall, but there was no answer. “Nomi?” 

Silence. Wolfgang felt his stomach drop with dread. He’d have to make his way downstairs by himself. Normally he wouldn’t mind but he was hyper-aware of Kala’s presence. He didn’t want to risk her life any more than he already had. 

“What’s wrong?” Kala put her hand on his shoulder. 

“Nomi’s gone.” 

“We finally got to cut the signal.” A voice said from the end of the hallway. Kala gasped and Wolfgang’s free hand quickly pointed his gun in its direction, but a quick scan of his surroundings prevented him from shooting first. At their right, there was was a man blocking the staircase and at his left, there was Joong-Ki with another thug doing the same. Darkness was a bitch but he could still recognize Joong-Ki’s disgusting smile of triumph. Both of his men had guns with laser pointers and Wolfgang’s eyes followed their trail to his own chest. He pulled Kala’s hand to keep her between his body and the wall. “Your boss is good but my people are better, you know?” 

Wolfgang cursed repeatedly in his mind. He tried to find a way out but any scenario was dangerous for Kala. So many bad things could happen to them… _Fuck._  

Where were his friends when he needed them? 

Or better yet, where the hell was Sun? 

“Did you miss me?” Joong-Ki asked, taking a few steps closer. He talked casually and he actually kept his hands inside the pockets of his pants, as if they were old friends meeting by chance on the street. _Sick fuck_. 

“Not really.” Wolfgang said, letting go of Kala’s hand to improve his stance and his aim on Joong-Ki’s head. He would make sure to kill the cockroach this time. “How did you survive?” 

“You are not the only one with friends in interesting places.” Wolfgang snarled, pissed at the implications of his comment. “I’ve been thinking about this moment for a long time, you know? But sadly, business is first. So, this is what is going to happen: You’ll hand us the lovely lady behind you and we won’t kill you. What do you say?” 

“Fuck you.” Wolfgang growled with pent-up rage and he felt Kala’s hands grabbing at his jacket. Until that moment he realized he should have given her his kevlar best when he had the chance. It had not occurred to him that Joong-Ki would survive being in the same building as his sister for so long.

Joong-Ki chuckled. The psycho was having the time of his life now that he had the upper hand. Wolfgang noticed then that his men moved their arms just a little, and their laser pointers went past him and landed on Kala. His left hand left the gun immediately, trying to cover her from both sides, but doing that and killing them at the same time would be incredible hard if they decided to shoot. 

“Since you can’t be reasoned with, let’s talk to the lady in question. It’s… Kala? Right?” 

“Don’t you fucking dare.” 

“Shhh Agent. You are just an employee. Misses Rasal, would you come with me so we can finish the paperwork somewhere else and in exchange I promise not to kill you, your husband or your lover.” 

“Motherfucker.” Wolfgang breathed as he felt Kala trembling by his side. 

“You promise?” She asked with a weak voice and Wolfgang turned his head without moving the arm with the gun. 

“Kala, don’t.” He hissed, trying and failing to hide his panic. 

“I give you my word.” 

“He’s lying.” Wolfgang insisted, but Kala looked at him, looking completely calm. 

“Maybe… but right now it’s my turn to protect you.” She said with a weak voice and she offered him a sad smile before turning around to walk away. He felt ice running down his spine as her hands let go of him. 

Wolfgang’s heart started pounding in his chest. He had to do something, but anything would result in someone getting hurt or worse. Still, he wouldn’t let him take her. He would shoot them first. It didn’t matter if he got killed. 

Kala was almost out of his reach when Wolfgang made a decision. He took a deep breath and held it in as he aimed directly to Joong-Ki’s head. Then someone kicked the doors of the staircase open. 

“Drop the guns!” 

“Do it now!” 

Wolfgang didn’t turn to see who had arrived. His eyes were fixed on Joong-Ki’s panicked expression and the hasty movement of his hand, reaching for the pocket of his jacket.

“Get down!” Wolfgang yelled to Kala and she obeyed as the two thugs were distracted, trying to defend themselves from the police. Wolfgang’s managed to aim straight to Joong-Ki’s hand and then he took his shot. 

“ _Shi-bal_!” Joong-Ki held his injured hand close to his chest and stumbled backwards while he searched for something else in his pocket with the good one. Wolfgang stopped paying attention to him and went to kneel over Kala. He saw how Joong-Ki’s men fell dead on the floor and then the voice of his friends reached them from the other side of the hallway. 

“Run!” 

Wolfgang stood up and looked behind while pulling Kala towards where Will and Capheus were taking cover. Darkness didn’t help but when something metallic shone right at the level of Joong-Ki’s mouth Wolfgang understood what was going on and he had exactly five seconds to make a decision. 

Joong-Ki wanted him dead the most after all, so he didn’t had to verify the direction of his last resource weapon. 

“Get down!” He yelled to his friends as he pulled Kala into his arms and turned around, ready to become her human shield. He got a chance to watch her fearful eyes as he covered her head and shoulders with his arms. He’d have to hold her with all his force to protect her from the shrapnels and the blast. They were too close. If something happened to her, it would definitely be his fault. 

 _I hate my fucking life_ , he thought just before the grenade touched the wall by their side and then it exploded. 

 

—-

 

The whole building heard the explosion. The floor trembled for a moment.

_Shit, shit, shit._

Jung-Ki couldn’t do exactly what Lila wanted, but it was fine, right? A grenade couldn’t fail. Lila would just have to work through her obsession with the German asshole. You couldn’t always win after all, right?

Except for him. He was running away and he would get into the helicopter and leave Korea forever. 

Or so he thought. 

Instead of making a great scape, someone punched him in the face right as he turned a corner and then he tasted his own blood when he tried to hold his face with his ruined hand. 

“SHIT!” 

“Father would be so disappointed to hear you curse like that.” 

He opened his eyes in time to see his sister’s eyes as she grabbed him by the neck and pushed him against the wall. Sun used all of her force to choke him.

“The police is here. You can’t kill me.” He said with a strained voice. The red light coming from the window revealed that his sister’s face was covered in blood and he felt like he could faint just by seeing that. 

“The police is tired of your shit, Joong-Ki.” Sun answered with an ice-cold voice and she smirked when she saw his brother’s useless attempts to hit her arm. But he was turning purple, so she started to drag him to the closest window. She wanted him to be conscious for the next part. “You should have stayed dead.” 

“Sun… p-please…” 

“Don’t worry. I’ll put you back into your grave.” 

 


	49. Painful Peace

Before the pain, there were voices. Lots of them. Some were screaming, but those were quickly silenced by the sound of singing and laughter. 

Then, a memory. 

_Who are you praying to?_

_What did you ask for?_

“Please, wake up.” 

 _Kala,_ he thought and then, all he could feel was pain. He gasped for air as he opened his eyes and it took a few seconds for Wolfgang to focus on the person in front of him. 

“Wolfgang, it’s me. You are in the hospital.” 

“Kala.” 

“I’m here. I’m with you.” 

He calmed down and opened his mouth a few times intending to talk to her, but his mouth was so dry.

“Can I…?” he pointed to the bottle of water on the nightstand and Kala rushed to take it. 

“Here.” She helped him drink and the fresh water felt almost as pleasing as Kala’s hands brushing his cheek softly. 

“What happened?” He asked with a rough voice and Kala sniffed before explaining. 

“You got hurt while saving me. The doctor’s weren’t sure you would wake up…” 

That explained why every little twitch of every muscle hurt like hell. He tentatively moved his feet, just to make sure he could still feel his legs and he relaxed a little when he felt the pain of his toes. 

“It was a grenade, right?” He said. The memories were fuzzy but he was sure of that one thing. “Who the fuck does that?” He was alive. He was broken… but not incomplete. Kala was there. She smiled at his comment and two seconds later she was crying. “Hey...don’t cry.” He said, biting his lip to stop himself from complaining as he lifted his right hand to caress Kala’s cheek. It hurt like hell, and he winced, but that didn’t stop him. “I’m sorry…” 

Kala sighed to calm herself down and turned to Wolfgang’s hand to kiss the first bit of skin that wasn’t under the bandage before asking, “Why?” 

“Mumbai… the car crash.” He closed his eyes as he felt a wave of pain on his temple. _Fucking Joong-Ki_ , he thought, but he didn’t feel like bringing that into the conversation just yet. 

Kala laughed again and that sound gave him life. “Don’t be silly…” 

“How long… ?” He started to ask but the pain moved down to his jaw and he closed his eyes for a second.  

“Almost two days.” Kala said, caressing Wolfgang’s left arm with her fingers, “We are in Berlin now. Nomi arranged the transfer… and she called Felix. He was here like… ten minutes ago but he went to get something to eat.” 

That made the blond smile. “Of course he did.” He wasn’t mortified about being unconscious for two days. Nomi had said that he couldn’t catch a bomb but he did his best with a grenade and he won, even if his body didn’t feel it like a victory yet. It was going to be a little bit harder to get back from that one in comparison with the bullet… Judging by the spots of pain on his right arm and his neck, he must have stopped a good chunk of the thing with his body. He would probably be dead if it wasn’t for the vest. 

Wolfgang thought of asking Kala about what had happened in Korea after that. Did the police get everyone? Did Sun kill her brother? What happened to Ajay? And Rajan? 

_Rajan._

Wolfgang sighed, “Shouldn’t you be in India... with your family?” 

 _Don’t bother her,_ he thought. It had only been two days and she had spent all that time by his hospital bed without knowing if he would wake up or not. That was a lot. 

But then Kala shook her head and said something that took his breath away. “I’m never going to leave you.” 

Now _that_ was too much. He wasn’t ready. He had been more ready for the grenade, if he was honest. Wolfgang felt his throat tighten at the intensity of her brown eyes. It hurt to have her fingers intertwined with his, but he didn’t care about pain anymore. He started to sit up straight and Kala seemed mortified. “What are you doing?!” 

“I need to kiss you.” Wolfgang said simply, using all his force to get close to Kala. He got a glimpse of her smile before closing his eyes to desperately kiss her. The ache to taste her lips won over the ache of his back. He deepened the kiss, forgetting the discomfort of his neck and jaw at the touch of her tongue. He softly messed her hair up with sore fingers. The skin of his shoulders felt tender under her eager hands and he whimpered in a mix of pleasure and pain when she bit his lower lip. 

“I’m sorry.” She mumbled scared, separating herself just enough to apologize. Wolfgang smiled, admiring the redness of her cheeks and enjoying the feeling of her warm breath grazing his skin. 

Being able to feel the sting of his lip was worth the ache he was feeling all over. He could do this all day.

“I’m not complaining.” He said, giving her a shorter, sweeter kiss before falling back over his pillow, “I don’t know if it’s too late or too soon to ask you out.” 

“You mean like, a date?” Kala asked in amused disbelief. She probably thought he was delirious because of his head injuries and all the drugs… but the truth was that Wolfgang didn’t want to wait for another life-threatening event to tell her how he felt. Her smile was tiny but lovely and the sight of it warmed Wolfgang’s chest, but it didn’t last long because someone entered his hospital room.

“Hey.” Nomi greeted them. Wolfgang noticed immediately that she looked like shit. Not as bad as him, he was sure, but the black circles under her eyes hinted to lack of sleep in the last couple of days. Still, she smiled. “I’m glad you are awake.” 

“Is it over?” Wolfgang asked as she walked to his bed. 

“Yeah, the police arrested Ajay after Rajan and Kala’s statements.” She nodded quickly at Kala and the girl returned the gesture while grabbing Wolfgang’s hand. “And Joong-Ki… suffered a terrible accident.” She raised her eyebrows, clearly uncomfortable with having to talk about that in public. “Would you excuse us a moment, Kala? Please.” 

Wolfgang was expecting that, but Kala looked worried. 

“It’s okay.” He reassured her, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb. 

She didn’t seemed convinced but she nodded anyway. “I… I’ll go find Felix. He’ll be glad to know you are awake.” She said while getting up and forcing herself to sound happy. In that moment Wolfgang had a chance to look at her and he couldn’t help a lopsided smile as he noticed she was wearing a black hoodie. He recognized that one: he had left it at his apartment in Berlin. Felix must had brought some of his clothes to the hospital. “I’ll be right back.” Said Kala with her cheeks going red under his stare and then, after a moment of hesitation, she leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the lips before leaving the room. Wolfgang’s eyes lingered for a few seconds on the door and Nomi had to clear her throat to get his attention. 

“What is it?” he finally asked grudgingly. There was always someone interrupting his scarce moments of peace. 

“I’m not sure how to tell you this.” She started to say and then she sat on the chair that Kala had just left. “Especially after that…” 

Wolfgang closed his eyes in frustration. “What went wrong?” 

Nomi took a deep breath. She grabbed her phone from her pocket before looking at him with pity, “Everything.” Then she showed him the pictures. 

Wolfgang opened his eyes and looked at the screen as he listened to Nomi’s explanation of his current situation. Her voice was soft and cautious but nothing in her way of delivering the bad news would spare Wolfgang of the cold feeling that this was karma, coming back to bite him in the ass for all the fucked up shit he had done back when he was still part of the family business. 

Monster’s didn’t deserve happy endings after all. 

“Basically, It’s worse than we thought.” She concluded with a grave voice and one of her hands found his left one, and she squeezed it. He wanted to complain, but he felt too empty inside to react in any way. 

He imagined what this would do to Felix and Kala and he hated himself for it. 

All he kept thinking was that this wasn’t fair, but few things in his life had been fair. 

“You understand what’s going to happen, right?” Nomi asked, her lips forming a thin line. 

It was a fucking tragedy and he hated his life so much. “I’m going to die.” 

 


	50. The letter

Kala left Berlin the day after Wolfgang’s funeral. 

Four months later, she almost felt like her life was back to normal.

A new kind of normal, of course. Her dad was fully recovered and went back to work as soon as the doctor said it was alright. He had a new restaurant, courtesy Rajan’s money. 

She told him many times that it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted and assured her that he would always be there for her, even after the divorce. 

Their separation had been a shock for everyone, just as she had predicted. For some reason, their families had thought that experiencing trauma together would bring them closer. Hard times make stronger marriages, they said, but Kala stood her ground. She didn’t go into the details of her reasons, because she didn’t want them to know just for how long she had lied to everyone, including herself. Still, she was firm in her decision and her family dropped the subject faster than she thought possible. 

 _It’s because you are sad,_ said a voice in her head. _Everyone can see it._  

That voice sounded a lot like Wolfgang. 

Kala shook her head to clear her thoughts as she grabbed her things from her desk. The voice was right but she also knew that every day was a little easier. With every week she felt a little bit better about his absence and so she left the building of Turing Labs, committed to have a normal evening with her family. 

The fresh air and the movement on the streets helped her calm down. She started to walk, grateful that the reporters had quitted a few weeks ago. They had wanted to get exclusive information about the Rasal Industries Affair, but now everything was calmer. 

_Boring is good._

Still, she remained alert while walking home. She did not had the feeling of being followed anymore, but she liked to look around and be aware of her surroundings so she wouldn’t be startled by loud noises or children screaming suddenly. 

It had been difficult to get into a new routine, but she had done her best to get there. After all, that was what Wolfgang wanted for her. He had given up everything for… no, she wouldn’t do this. She wouldn’t torture herself. 

The smell of her father’s cooking welcomed her home. Her sister gave her a big hug before dragging her to the table. This was the easiest part of her new routine. Eating her father’s delicious food while listening to her mother and sister talk about their day. 

“Oh, Kala, I almost forgot.” Her mother left the table in a rush and then came back holding a delivery envelope. 

Kala stared at it for a moment, wondering. Then she ripped the envelope apart, feeling her heart beating faster with every piece that fell to the floor, until she got to the second envelope. It was ivory white, and shiny and she couldn’t help feeling disappointed when she read what was inside. 

But then the sadness passed and she felt happy to have a reminder that even though four months ago she had lost someone dear, she had also gained a lot of new friends. 

 


	51. Tears

Kala pretended to be alright even if she felt overwhelmed by everything that was happening around her. From the beginning of her trip it had been hard for her to go to the airport to take a plane without Wolfgang. On their first flight together he had told security that they were a couple and that was the beginning of a lie that got so close to be true… 

She cried a little on the plane and felt better afterwards. During the first weeks thinking about Wolfgang had made her cry until she fell asleep. Now, when she thought about him, she tried to focus on the good things: how gentle he was every time he took her hand, the intensity of his blue eyes when he watched her, the warmth of his arms holding her at night, his voice when he said that he wanted her on that dance floor and the kiss they shared at the beach…

She thought that was the end of the tears, but she couldn’t help herself the next day when she saw Hernando and Lito exchanging their vows in front of all their friends and family. She didn’t understand them because they were in Spanish, but it didn’t matter. Besides, she wasn’t the only emotional one. Dany was standing next to them and everyone could see her wiping her tears with a handkerchief, being really careful not to mess up her make-up. Kala looked around the beautiful golden ballroom where they were all gathered. She spotted Nomi Marks and Amanita Kaplan. At first she was surprised but she quickly remembered that Lito had been their client a few years ago. 

Lito and Hernando started exchanging rings, but Kala wasn’t paying attention anymore. Her mind was faraway from there. 

_I’m never going to leave you._

_I need to kiss you._

Kala couldn’t stop thinking about him now. Seeing Nomi was too much. The last time she saw her… and then with the invitation she had thought… 

She felt the tears coming, but they weren’t from happiness anymore, so she excused herself politely to the people around her and ran straight to the bathroom. 

Kala heard people clapping and cheering as she closed the door behind her and then she walked to the sink. She bit her lip, trying to contain the sobbing as she snatched some paper towels. 

She turned on the faucet and cleaned her face up, making sure not to get any drops on her blue dress. Breath in. Breath out. She’d be alright. Even without him… one day she’d be alright. 

Once she calmed down, she turned off the water and looked up at her reflection on me mirror, worrying that maybe she would need to redo her make-up before going back to the party, but her attention went immediately to the person standing behind her. 

“Hey.” 

She wanted to turn around, but she was frozen. Of all the places she had hoped she would see Wolfgang at, a wedding full of people was the last one of them. Or maybe she had lost her mind? 

“I’m finally going crazy, right?” 

“I hope not. You are the sanest person I know.” 

Kala turned around then and made a list of everything she knew was real. She left the paper towel over the sink and her hands were still a little wet. She felt a cold drop of water falling down her neck. Outside the bathroom she could hear the muffled voices of someone talking with a microphone, so it was probably a speech for the newlyweds. And in front of her, there was Wolfgang, looking alive and incredibly handsome in a black suit. 

“So… this is real?” 

Wolfgang stood silent for a few seconds. She felt the intensity of his eyes as he stared at her for the first time since the hospital in Berlin. It made her shiver, so she decided that it was real. If she wasn’t so confused with her feelings she might have noticed the relief on Wolfgang’s face, but it vanished as soon as he found her eyes. 

“I’m sorry…” He started to say, taking a step towards her. 

“No.” Kala lifted a hand and he stopped. 

“Did Nomi…” 

“She did.” She interrupted him again, taking a step back to lean on the sink behind her. She felt dizzy. This was happening for real. “Well, she explained most of it like… a week after?” 

Wolfgang’s lips formed a thin line and he lowered his head, “I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t say it.” Kala said, maybe a little bit too harsh, so she added immediately. “Those seven days were the worst of my life. And then Nomi arrives and tells me it’s all pretend. That we all are in danger and she cannot explain why but that all you ask for is patience.”

Kala stopped her rant and blinked a few times to keep from crying. The irony of it all wasn’t lost on her. She had asked Wolfgang the exact same thing back in Mexico all those months ago. She’d thought they would have to wait a few weeks while she ended her marriage… she had thought they’d have time to figure things out. She never imagined that she would spend months wondering where he was and what was he doing… and eventually, she accepted it. It had broken her heart to learn that she had been lied to, but she also knew that Wolfgang wouldn’t do such a thing without a good reason. It didn’t matter that she’d only knew him for a few days. She knew in her heart, that he wouldn’t have left her if he’d had any other choice. And now, he was there, six months later. And she had been patient. 

“Is it over?” 

“I think so.” He said with a weak voice, but he didn’t want to talk about all that just yet. “How are you?” He asked then, trying to sound as casual as possible and then deciding that it had been weird. 

“Fine,” Kala said with a big, fake smile on her face, but it only lasted a few seconds. “I got a new job. But I guess you already knew that because you were watching me, right?” The edge was still there. She couldn’t hold it and Wolfgang recognized it immediately. She was pissed.  

“That wasn’t me. I’ve been laying low.” He explained. He had been notified about her life all the time. His only contact with the rest of the world was Bug, a friend of Nomi, and he had noticed pretty quickly the nature of the situation. He told Wolfgang about Kala’s divorce and her new job. He knew she had moved back to her parent’s home and that the people following her had stopped after two months. Or at least, it looked that way. The mere thought of Kala being stalked drove him crazy. He felt restless even now and his left foot shifted a little in her direction but he remained in his place. 

“Are you better now?” Kala allowed herself to ask. He had been pretty hurt the last time she had seen him. Enough to fool her into believing the wounds were mortal. 

“I made a full recovery.” 

“Good. I remember you told me that you were hard to kill… but I guess I forgot. I truly believed that you were dead, you know?” She crossed her arms and Wolfgang noticed she was digging her nails into her own skin. He’d had so much time to prepare what he wanted to tell her, but he wasn’t ready to actually have her in front of him. Kala was so close he could almost touch her… but that fire in her eyes was a warning, and he wouldn’t try anything before being honest with her. 

“I…” _Stop saying you are sorry._ “I was a thief when I was younger,” he started to explain and her expression changed to wariness. “I used to steal whatever my uncle wanted. It was part of the family business.” He offered her a bitter smile as he took a step forward. “I’ve killed a lot of people too. They weren’t always criminals. Except for my father. He was the worst.” He paused then, watching as comprehension widened her brown eyes. He felt his heart pounding against his chest. This part was what scared him the most. “You should know that.” He added in a weak voice, ready to move aside if she wanted to leave the bathroom and to give her space if she never wanted to see him again, but she didn’t move. She just lowered her face and one of her hands wiped a runaway tear. _Was she crying for him?_ “I did a lot of bad things for very dangerous people.” He continued, deciding to let it all out while he still had a chance. Everything except… Lila. He wasn’t ready to talk about her just yet. First, he would see if he still had a chance and then, maybe... “I was supposed to go to prison but Nomi saved me. She gave me another chance but I… I wasn’t sure what to do with it until I met you.” She looked up to him then and there was no anger or resentment. He only saw sadness and he was the one that caused it. “I know you don’t want to hear it, but I’m sorry I hurt you. Everything I did was for you and Felix.” 

Her jaw dropped a little then. “Does he know?” 

Wolfgang shook his head. He grimaced, because he was just finishing the saddest and loneliest period of his existence. He had never spent so much time without talking to Felix. And he spent his nights wondering about Kala… did she hate him? Was she happy? Did she miss him? He took a deep breath to clear his thoughts and then he continued. “I sent Felix a few clues… but officially, no. He doesn’t.” Then he smiled, thinking about that scenario that had passed through his mind hundreds of times. “I’m afraid he’s going to kill me for real when he finds out.” 

He was serious, but his comment was charged with enough self-pity to sound like a joke and Kala scoffed. It was part disbelief and part amusement and Wolfgang took it as a good sign. 

“Too soon?” He asked, daring to smirk; daring to hope. 

Kala rolled her eyes and then she tilted her head a little while she sniffed, “I’m sure Felix will be happy to have his brother back.” 

It was a kind thing to say. And it was also free of reproach, so he decided to take a final step to stand right in front of her. The fact that she was still there was the source of all his courage. “And you? Are you happy?” 

“I’m glad you are okay.” She answered with a sweet voice, and the way she avoided his eyes made him fear that maybe telling the truth was not enough. 

“You can punch me if you want.” He said, half desperate for any kind of reaction, half willing to do anything to feel her touch again, even if it was to hurt him. “I deserve it.” He held himself straight and closed his eyes, waiting for the hit. 

Kala recognized his stance. It was the bodyguard pose, the one he had used at the hospital in Mumbai when they had pretended to only have a professional relationship in front of her family.  She observed him carefully. There were tiny scars on the right side of his neck. A souvenir from Korea. How many scars did he have on his body? And his heart? After that short account of his life… the things he had done, and that she knew he regretted. She could see it in the way he talked and in his blue eyes, filled with guilt. She just knew. She was still upset about how things had turned out and the decisions he had made but if she took it out on Wolfgang  now, she would only be another sad memory on his list. Another mistake. Another ‘what if’.

But she didn’t want that. 

For the last six months the only thing she wanted was to know what could happen next. 

Kala got closer to him and she put her hands on his shoulders as she leaned over to leave tiny kisses on the scars of his neck. She felt him shiver and then his hands rose slowly to her waist. She hugged him then and inhaled his scent. He smelled like rain. 

“I missed you.” He murmured against her hair and she took a deep breath to steady her voice before speaking. 

“I love you.” She said and Wolfgang went completely still. He stepped back quickly to look at her, feeling the burning in his chest. “I should have told you before, in Berlin.” 

He didn’t answer right away. Instead he leaned to kiss her just as intensely as he had done that day on the beach. He didn’t know how she managed to light everything on fire inside him with just a few words. And her eyes. And her soft moaning when she felt his tongue caressing her lips, desperate to taste her. 

“I love you too.” He said between kisses, unwilling to let go of her at all. He felt her lips forming a smile as she pressed herself against him completely. 

Eventually, he left her lips to plant a trail of kisses down her neck and Kala closed her eyes, trying to catch her breath. “Will you stay?”

That finally got him to stop his attentions on her skin and he straightened up to look her in the eye. “As long as you want me to.” 

 

\- - -

 

Kala and Wolfgang decided that, even though they loved Lito and Hernando a lot, they wanted to have some time for themselves. Besides, how often can you be reunited with the love of your life in Paris?  

So they took advantage of the darkness of the dance floor to descend the main staircase of the venue and and they left the party unnoticed. Or so they thought. 

They didn’t account for Riley being used to work with party lights. She saw them leaving, and she gasped in surprise. “Oh my god! Is that…?” She tapped Will’s arm frenetically and he turn to the direction she was pointing at. 

“What?!” Will looked around him, jumping a little until he spotted his friend. “Capheus! Go get Lito.” He instructed while Riley dragged him to the balcony. 

The cold air hit their faces hard, but they were too busy searching both sides of the street. 

“What happened?” Capheus asked when he caught up, followed by Lito, Hernando and Dany. 

“There!” Riley pointed to her right to a couple walking casually towards the bridge. 

“Wolfgang?” Capheus asked in disbelief. 

“He’s alive?” Lito covered his mouth in disbelief. 

“And Kala! That’s Kala!” 

“I gotta call Sun!” Capheus said breathless, tapping frantically on the screen of his phone. 

“This is amazing!” Dani said hugging Hernando, who was speechless. 

“I know,” Will said, putting one arm on Riley’s shoulders and he whispered to her ear, “also, Diego owes me fifty bucks.” 

Riley giggled in delight and she let her head fall over his shoulder while they watched the couple walking along the river. Inside, Amanita offered Nomi a glass of champagne while she watched all the fuzz their friends were making at the balcony. “The secret’s out, honey.” 

“Finally. That was really stressful.” Nomi said with relief and she accepted the drink. 

“For true love.” Amanita raised her glass and Nomi smiled, happy that things worked out in the end, even if it took a lot of time. 

“And for those who find it.” 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank every kudo, every suscribe, every hit and every comment on this fic. This was really hard for me since this is my first long fic and you guys really helped me. I hope you all enjoyed the fluff and my attempt at angst as much as i enjoyed spending my nights thinking what the hell should happen next to make these idiots kiss each other.   
> See you again at the next fic, if my neurons are still alive after tonight.   
> Besos y abrazos desde México! 
> 
> pd: i know the end was cheesy as fuck but these are my artistic choises and i stand by them. love y'all!


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